Sleeping With her Enemy
by Angel-Wings6
Summary: They were lovers once. Torn apart by fate brought together by destiny. Will their love suvive or will the ultimate price be paid. TifaSephiroth R&R Completed
1. Authors Note

Hey there people, just so you know I have added nothing new to this fic! It came to my attention when a friend of mine pointed it out to me that people might have a lot of difficulty when reading this which when I looked it over decided is definitely true so I decided to repost the chapters in a way that would make them easier to understand and separated the run on sentences and such, so the storyline and the plot are basically untouched. Sorry if you all got exited but I'm still working on the sequel and I hope you are all enjoying that!! Sorry for any inconvenience  
  
Love to you all  
  
Angel - Wings XxXxXxXxXxX 


	2. Chapter 1

**Sleeping with her Enemy **

Memories

_Midnight  
Not a sound from the pavement  
Has the moon lost her memory?  
She is smiling alone  
In the lamplight  
The withered leaves collect at my feet  
And the wind begins to moan_

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Her eyes fluttered open as the tickle of a hand against her thigh roused her from sleep.

Fixing her gaze upon the man who had disturbed her slumber she took in his appearance his long silken locks of hair trailing over her golden skin as he moved, his eyes with their mako glow giving them an almost hypnotic quality.

The well-built body, smooth sinewy muscles that rippled as he moved, she traced his face with her hands as if savoring it, taking time over tracing his soft lips.

He kissed each fingertip making her shiver, he could always make her melt with just the softest of touches, could cause the pace of her heart to quicken in a way she had never experienced before and could make the very blood that flowed with her veins thicken with the most smoldering of looks, he made her feel desirable.

She smiled then frowned.

"We have to stop doing this, what if we were caught," she said lifting to a sitting position her complexion paled at the thought, he chuckled softly in reply to her obvious display of foolish worry.

"Would it really matter that much if we were" he said amusement danced in his eyes.

She batted him with her hand and laughed at his look of mock hurt, she sighed deeply her thoughts troubled, and how could something so wrong feel so right? How could something that should never have been allowed to progress have become the only source of happiness she had ever really known?

It was beyond her.

Just as her thoughts were about to become deeper, he tackled her pinning her body to the bed, held there by the strength of his own, she loved being like this, loved how he made her feel small and feminine yet so very protected.

His cool eyes took in her blushing face, her gaze that seemed to dance and pouting lips, the way her dark hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of wavy silkiness, the satiny smooth skin that felt so smooth wrapped around his own heated flesh.

He was consumed with a fiery love for this woman, who had captured his heart without him even realizing she had wanted to ensnare it.

But he could never truly be with her, he knew that he was only a part of her life because of the void she needed filled and that he was only here until the time came where his position would take him away from the comfort he had always found in her arms.

He had never told her that he loved her, within him was the fear that she would not be able to say it back; his heart wouldn't be able to take the rejection.

He inched his lips closer to hers and smiled as her eyes closed and her lips parted eagerly awaiting his kiss, with an invitation like that how could he not comply, placing his lips on hers he felt heat rocket through him and he gave himself to the flames that easily seduced and consumed him whenever he touched her.

Oh Tifa his mind cried out I love you so much.

Much later Tifa looked down into the sleeping face of her lover, he looked so innocent, with his long lashes resting on his cheeks and complete ignorance on his face.

Brushing her hand against his cheek and burying her face in his silken hair she smiled, this man had given her everything she had ever dreamed of without ever knowing she had dreamed of it, had shown her raptures she had never thought could exist for a girl like her.

"I love you," she whispered against his silvery-white locks, she wished that she could say the words to him when he was able to hear them, but she knew that there were factors involved which prevented her from bearing the deepest secrets of her own heart.

"I love you Sephiroth" and with those words on her lips she fell into a deep and untroubled sleep.

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**Three years later**

"Tifa you ok?" Cloud walked over to where she stood looking out at the ocean the wind whipping her hair, her eyes had a faraway look about them as though she were not really there, as though she had gone to a place were nothing could touch her.

She was beautiful he thought to himself, he'd always thought so he'd just never told her, at 16 she'd been a temptation to him but now at 21 she was beautiful, hers was a beauty that no amount of maturity or sorrow or hardship could touch and he longed for the day when he could claim her as his own, to show her what he had hidden in his heart for so long.

But since they had gone on their quest to look for Sephiroth she'd been distant and withdrawn.

She turned and directed her gaze at him and although it appeared she was looking in his direction Cloud fancied that she was looking straight through him as though he were not there.

"I'm fine," she said with a smile, but only Tifa knew she was lying, her eyes were strangely dry but she knew that the tears would come later for now she would show her friend that she was strong, that she was the determined person he had always known her to be, no matter how much she was screaming inside.

Oh Sephiroth her mind cried out how could you leave me without saying goodbye? How could you leave before I'd even told you I loved you?

It was the reason she had joined up with Barret, she knew that their quest would lead her to the truth; she needed to know the truth so she could finally restore the fractures that had long ago began to take up residency on her heart.

Now with the crew of Aeris, Cloud, Red XIII, Vincent, Yuffie and herself she knew that it wouldn't be long until she found him, she clutched the locked that hung around her neck a present from him; she'd never opened it in front of the others, wanted the secret part of her past to remain untainted by what they would say if they knew.

She didn't want them to see the picture of her and Sephiroth inside, but also a part of her was afraid, afraid that she might open it and find that the cherished picture was gone, just like the man it portrayed was gone from her life.

It was her special memory for her and her alone.

Alone; god how she hated that word with a passion that threatened to consume her more and more each day, hated all that it stood for she hated it because that was what she was, alone always alone.

She knew that without him in her life that was all she would ever be, single…alone… never a pair, with that the tears that she had fought so hard to control came pouring down her face hidden from view as the wind continued its onslaught causing her raven hair to whip more intensely about her face.

She was broken and she was alone.

_Memory  
All alone in the moonlight  
I can smile at the old days  
I was beautiful then  
I remember the time I knew what happiness was  
Let the memory live again_

Taken from the Song Memory from one of my favorite musicals 'Cats'

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Hope that you all liked that. I wrote this last year and only recently found the floppy disk with it on; anyway please review and I'll have more up soon so in the meantime just enjoy.

Angel-Wings XxXxXxXxX


	3. Chapter 2

**Sleeping with her Enemy **

Desolation

_Do you see what you do to me?  
You ain't got time for it now  
Do you think, that I'll ever be?_

Aeris looked towards the setting sun, the beach was peaceful and had tranquility about it which she had never before seen in a place since her visit to the city of the ancients, in those golden sands she heard the planet sigh and the sound brought her comfort, yet she could not help but hear the tinge of sorrow held within the sound that echoed.

Looking down towards the horizon she saw Tifa strolling silently along, the last rays of light bouncing off the tears that glistened on her face, to Aeris her friend looked so beautiful as she watched the sun disappear slowly beneath the waves, but to see such beauty suffer with such sorrow made her heart ache.

She frowned what was the matter with Tifa?

She'd been this way for a while now, odd and perversely withdrawn, but only on moments when she thought she wasn't being watched or when she thought she could get away with it, Aeris was an ancient so in tune with her surroundings that she noticed how her friend would often wonder away from the group to have her moments of sadness away from prying eyes.

There had to be something that she wasn't telling them, some secret that she was keeping, there was something within her that she did not want her friends to know, something that made her suffer night after night when she tossed and turned and called for something nobody could guess or understand.

But what could it be? And why was she keeping it?

Aeris had always considered Tifa a true friend, but she also considered to be one of her confidantes, someone she could confide her troubles and worries to with no fear of judgment or reprieve, to know that her trust was not fully returned was a blow to the brunette's heart.

She hoped that Tifa knew she had people about her who loved her, who were concerned for her and would be there for her should she need some form of release, she had to know that watching her try to secretly fall apart was causing her friends to worry about her, especially Cloud, he'd been in love with Tifa for so long he felt her distance a particularly hard blow to his heart.

Watching as the raven haired woman sank softly to the wet sands her head bowing almost in defeat Aeris felt as though her insides would crush under the enormity of the emotion she felt, she felt not only the planets sudden cry but Tifa's overwhelming sorrow.

How long would her friend go on before she eventually cracked, surely she had to realize that bottling everything inside was not the way to go, that pretty soon she would crumble from the pressure of trying to remain aloof and unfazed.

Aeris wanted so desperately to help her friend but how could she help Tifa when Tifa wouldn't help herself.

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Vincent toyed with the idea of going to talk to Tifa after spying her walking alone, but worried that such an act might give Yuffie the wrong idea and that wasn't what he wanted, he knew how possessive and jealous his little ninja could get, especially since she knew that Vincent had once harbored a crush for his curvy friend.

Turning his gaze away he spotted Yuffie sat on a nearby rock her eyes downcast and her face expressionless.

The wind ruffled lightly through her hair giving her an air of innocent fragility, Vincent smiled as he walked over to her placing an arm around her small body she was neither innocent nor fragile but to him she would always be like spun glass, in need of his protection and his love no matter how strong she appeared to be, Yuffie turned into his embrace sighing contentedly at the warmth he offered.

"I'm worried Vincent" she said her voice wobbly with emotion, her eyes seemed almost haunted as she looked again and he wondered if his assumption that she was not so fragile had been on the mark, he knew all too well how easily the human race could fracture and with sadness shown so clearly on her face he wondered if she was near her breaking point.

"she'll be alright love," he said stroking her hair in a soothing motion making her feel sleepy, he wanted to sooth the fears she held within herself away, he sat down and he shifted closer to him.

"I hope that you're right" she whispered.

The truth was he couldn't really say that Tifa would be alright, she had been so different the bright vivacious woman he had always known her to be, it was like a shadow of her former self walked talked and lived in her place.

Every one at one time in their life had fancied themselves in love with Tifa, even Barret and Cid had given her hidden glances, so she was special to the group as a whole, but not only was she special but she had always been integral, raising morale, always the first one to get involved with a laugh, a smile and a well aimed punch.

Something ate at her everyday and the fact that none of them knew bothered Vincent more than anything.

He looked down at Yuffie, her eyes were closed and her deep even breathing signaled that she had fallen asleep the frown she had worn only moments before replaced by a smile of contentment as he sheltered her smaller body from the winds.

He was so lucky to have her in his life, so glad that he had met her that she had fallen for him just as he had fallen for her; she'd touched him in ways he had never imagined being touched before.

Now he only hoped that someone could reach and conquer Tifa's inner darkness just as Yuffie had conquered his.

She was lost in her memories, the words he had whispered against her lips on the last night she had seen him flashed vivid in her mind.

_Flashback_

"You make me so happy do you know that" Sephiroth said teasing the lose tendrils of her hair as they stuck to the moistness of her skin, her body glowed from the aftermath of their love making and she giggled when he tickled her breast with the ends of her hair, she looked at him in from beneath her lashes her face becoming serious.

"You do the same for me" she whispered and then the sobs had came shaking her delicate frame as he held her in her arms.

"What's wrong?" he asked pulling her back from him so he could look at her she reveled in the concern she saw in his face but it could not appease the pain that had cut through her, the tender moments between them had always been her undoing for she wished to god that they never had to end.

"Is it worth it" she sobbed at him trying desperately to nestle closer, needing the warmth of his embrace, she didn't want to feel the cold she knew she would feel if he was not there, didn't want to imagine what her life would be like if he was no longer a part of it.

"Listen to me" he said pulling her close again, his hand stroking her raven hair soothing her with his concern and his obvious affection.

He thought for a moment before he spoke

"I wouldn't change a thing about now, even though I know that we can't always been together" he kissed her hair, she held her breath when she heard the words, they were heartfelt and she knew he was not lying in what he said, she also knew that she would never change the way things were, even if they only had mere seconds with each other she would have still held on to what they had

"Just always remember, when you're with your lover a heartbeat can last a lifetime, but when your alone a minute can seem like an eternity."

She had looked up at him a smiled breaking through the tears; it was going to be all right it was going to work out fine, all that mattered was the here and now, that she was living a lifetime within his arms and holding onto it with all she had.

Sighing contentedly she had slipped into a comfortable sleep knowing she was with the man she loved and that everything was all right.

_End Flashback_

But it hadn't been all right you left me her mind screeched, he hadn't even said goodbye, hadn't even stayed until she had awoken to tell her the reason he could not stay.

"Oh Sephiroth" she cried his name carrying on the wind away from her lips, she fancied she heard a sigh echo on the winds in response but she had long ago given up hope that her questions would be answered, but still she continued to voice them, still carried hope within her heart.

"Why did you leave me alone?"

The darkness fell like a suffocating blanket covering everything as the sun finally set.

And still she didn't move, she felt at peace here with the waves lapping over her feet, it was as if they understood what it was she was feeling inside when nobody else could, as if they could carry away her sorrows with the tide as it receded.

The wind which caressed her face offered her a stinging cold sensation on the patches that were still damp from her tears.

But it comforted her, the sensations reminded her she was here, she wasn't merely a shadow, she was live flesh and blood, she could feel things, it didn't matter if it was only pain or sorrow or a in futile hope, it reminded her of why she needed to carry on, of the promise she had made within her very heart.

"Sephiroth I love you and I will find you".

She sank down onto the sands letting the warmth the sun had left envelope her in its warm embrace like his arms had always done. Let the wind sooth her as it kissed her hair like his lips, and soon she was fast asleep.  
She never saw the eyes that watched her from atop the nearby cavern or the look of longing that was etched on the face of the person they belonged to.

From his vantage point high atop the cavern he could see her, even in the dark his eyesight was impeccable, but he knew that even if he lost his sight that he would still be able to see her that her beauty would always tantalize and hypnotize him in a way that no other had.

His angel his love

"I never meant to hurt you" he said and saw her sigh as if she had caught his message, he longed for her to open her eyes and see him there, to show her that she was not as alone as she always imagined herself to be, that on nights when he had the strength to do so he watched over her as she slept, it was the only time she slept peacefully.

He wanted to touch her, to assure himself that she was real, but he knew that it was beyond his limitations at the moment.

He longed for the day he could once again hold her in his arms, but how could he when his soul was not his own until nightfall, and even then it would never fully belong to him, not if stayed where he was, even if he were to escape there was no guarantee that they would be together, he wouldn't place such a burden upon her.

He cursed under his breath, he had been damned he'd known that ever since he was a small boy, but still he had been unable to resist the temptation of her love, and now they both paid the ultimate price.

If only he had stayed away from her all those years ago, then she would be free to live her life rather than merely try to exist it, he knew what it was she felt, could sense each and every emotion as though they were his own, and lived through the same hell every day since he had left her.

"I'm sorry my love" he whispered and in a flurry of silver he was gone leaving Tifa to sleep in innocent abandon.

_Cause all I ever wanted's so far gone  
And if I had my chance, I'd go along _

You're making me fall down  
I'm falling down again  
I wish you could fall down  
Can you catch me darling?

_Lyrics from Falling down by Goo Goo Dolls_

Here's another chapter for you to sink your teeth into. Hope that you enjoy it, thanks for the reviews so far and I hope that I manage to keep your faith in my talents.

Angel – Wings XxXxXxXxX


	4. Chapter 3

**Sleeping with her Enemy  
**

**Kidnapped**

_Pushing forward and arching back  
Bring me closer to heart attack  
Say goodbye and just fly away  
When you comeback  
I have some things to say_

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"You sure you don't need any help kid" a man with a rounded stomach and a bushy moustache asked the younger man trying desperately to get to his feet, his labored breathing and battered skin seemed to give him an almost broken look, yet for some reason it did not detract from the strength and prowess he had always possessed, he did not need any help, he could do this under his own steam.

He shook his head, almost gagging on the smell of smoke that encircled him as the older man took a puff on his cigar.

He couldn't risk getting caught, not this early into his escape, and no matter how good this mans intentions may be offering his help to a stranger those same intentions would be lost in the face of the money he would be offered for his location, the less attention he drew to himself the better it was to just disappear.

He'd managed to slip out of the Shinra building without being discovered, scaling easily over the newly built ten foot wall that surrounded the building, his super human abilities made such things easier for him, not that he would ever be thankful that he had them, but today they had managed to help him.

.  
Most people would probably consider what he had a gift, but he knew differently, it was and always would be a curse, a curse to rob him of his happiness.

He smashed his fist into the cement floor not even winching as his bones crunched, they would heal in a matter of minutes, another trait which had been forced upon him in Shinra's bid to make the perfect warrior, the perfect soldier.

He smiled when he saw that he had created a hole, and at the blood that oozed from the fresh cuts he'd made, it reminded him that he was real.

He welcomed the pain for that reminded him that he could still feel, he needed to feel more than anything for in feeling lay humanity and he would be damned if they took that way from him along with everything else they had successfully removed from his life.

.  
Standing up brushing at the light speckles dust that had settled on him he pondered what he needed to do next, he looked down at his battered body, he wore only a pair of black jeans tattered and torn, not the ideal traveling attire but it would have to do him for now, he couldn't afford a pit stop for new clothes.

His once long luscious hair hung limply and matted with dirt, he didn't care though, none of it mattered, he was alive, people had always called him vain in the past but that was hardly true and what was vanity in the face of life?

He lived.

The rain came unexpectedly the clouds covering the sun and it had no choice to surrender to the darkness, its shining beauty blocked by the blackness as the fat droplets fell, slowly at first but soon with vigor and intensity.

They washed over him, the dirt sliding from his hair, soaking his skin as if to cleanse him, he kept moving oblivious the frigid angry wind that bit into his back, it had been so long since he had felt the rain, he longed to twirl under it and revel in how it cascaded down his skin, how it kissed every part of his body, but he resisted the childish temptation and continued on.

He looked down at the bruises on his arm; the black marks marred his skin with their harshness, its perfection scarred, but it was still mostly flawless as though it had been hewn from the smoothing of marble, it still gleamed with vitality, the bruises would heal, his own body would see to that.

His eyes where drawn by the sparkle of the diamond encrusted signet ring that adorned the middle finger of his left hand, her present to him, he remembered how she had blushed shyly when she had handed him the package, how her eyes had lit with delight when he had told her it was the most beautiful present he had ever received from anybody.

It was a reminder as to why he had to carry on; it was what kept him going.

Tifa

Her name came to his mind making him feel warm despite the cruel weather, he touched a finger to his lips, he remembered the way hers had caressed him, the way her fingers had traced its curve the way it had formed a smile whenever she was near him.

She was the reason he'd had to escape before they'd eradicated his memories.

His memories where all he had left, she had been the best thing that had ever happened to him and he would fight tooth and nail to keep what he had left of her, but there was something else which had fueled his need to escape, a terror that clung to his very soul, if that's what he had left was called.

If they found out of his love for her while he was under their surveillance they'd hunt her, and he knew that if that happened then like him she would become damned.

The image of her beauty tainted by a place such as Shinra had caused such a need to protect her in him that he not thought twice about taking the opportunity to escape the wretched building in which he had been imprisoned for so long.

For her the risk was worth it.

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Hojo frowned while looking over the charts; the brainwaves that he's recorded on the subject signified that Sephiroth was indeed in love, the machine he had dedicated a better part of his years to showed him how human emotions worked and he had seen so clearly what Sephiroth had tried to hide.

Hojo felt a satisfaction well deep within his chest at his accomplishment, his only goal now was to find out who it was.

If he held that kind of power over Sephiroth then he'd be completely at his mercy, he could bring the woman here; offer her to him in a hope that he might breed, it would be interesting to see what the results that would show.

He had always strived to be the best in his field, it didn't matter that he practiced on the more shady side of science, the discoveries' he had made were phenomenal, he had probably broke every expectation that anyone had ever had of him, surpassing himself all the time.

Sephiroth had been his piece de résistance, his breakthrough in genetic engineering with humans, he had seen in Sephiroth's body the potential to make something great…and he had.

Now he would be able to ensure that greatness lived on if he knew who his masterpiece had lost his heart to, he was no fool and he knew that the feelings Sephiroth held for this girl went far beyond infatuation, it was love and it was powerful, a good tool to use against him.

Yes Hojo would find out who it was, he would bide himself and wait patiently, study the data and evaluate the facts until the answer was finally deduced.

It was only a matter of time.

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"No" she was adamant her eyes flashing fiercely, she could easily see through what they were trying to do, but she would not satisfy their need for a fairy tail ending, would not appease what they all wanted to happen, she had her own heart and with it her own desires which were not for the person of who they now spoke of.

"But why not I thought you liked him" Aeris said startled at Tifa's outrage over being asked to be Clouds partner to the dance, the way her friend was acting it was like she had asked her to cut her heart out and hand it to blonde with the promise to be his for all eternity, she longed to see a smile on Tifa's lips again but she never seemed to make the right move to cause one.

Tifa huffed

"Cloud is and will always be nothing more than a friend Aeris, please don't push it" she folded her arms to show her resolve, she had not lost her stubborn nature and she was making sure that Aeris knew it, her heart may be hurting but that didn't mean she wanted to embark on anything with her spiky haired friend.

"Then please just as a friend will you escort him" Aeris sighed she could see Tifa was considering the idea so went in for another attack, reaching out she took Tifa's hand in her own a lost soul look on her face, she'd been learning from Barret and since he always managed to get his way she imagined she had been learning from the best.

"Please Tifa, he doesn't want to go in alone and I can't not go in with Barret he'd be upset." Tifa huffed again but this time it was in defeat.

"Oh all right" she said turning to go back into the room, she wondered why she would never be able to say no to eyes that looked so saddened, it reminded her of him and how he would always pout and put on a look of pure puppy like need that she had been helpless against it, had never been able to refuse such a look.

"but I don't want you all thinking that we're a couple" she said as Aeris turned away the look completely gone from her face and a new spring to her step as she made her way back to her own room to get ready for the evening..

"My heart belongs to someone else," she whispered

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The dampness that clung to his skin only slightly annoyed him, but at least the dirt was gone.

For the first time in the past three years Sephiroth felt clean, it was not a feeling that he had often had and he was savoring in it memorizing it in case he never got to feel such a sensation again, he didn't know what the future held so he was living for the now.

The forest in which he now resided was secluded, quiet and peaceful; he had found his own promised land where he was free, if only for a short while he was his own master again something a feeling which was alien to him since he had been under restraint for so long.

He didn't know if they would find him, he'd left no tracks.

But with Shinra anything was possible, he knew what sort of tactics they would employ in order to find him, and he had no doubt that they would want to find him, after all he was the prized possession of Hojo and they would stop at nothing to retrieve him.

He rubbed his hands over his arms feeling the goose pimples bubbling up on his skin; it was getting colder, lights flashed across the sky and the sound of rumbling followed.

Thunder Lightning they were all signs that he was here, that he could still sense

.  
He inhaled the musky scent of the forest and the mixed in fragrance of pine and fruit... it was like her perfume, it intoxicated him, why did everything remind him of her? Why did she haunt him as she did with everything that they had shared?

Why was life so cruel?

Everything that invoked her memory was like another shred in his already tattered heart, if the throbbing organ in his chest was what was left of his once happy heart.

His gaze flicked over his surroundings his eyes seeking out shelter; they came to rest on an old cave not far from his position, not exactly the Ritz but it was a shelter and a part of him liked the idea of sleeping upon the soft earth.

His battered body uttered a protest that he needed to stop, and like a moth to a light in the darkness he was drawn towards the protective warmth the caves sanctuary offered, he could not remember any inn which had looked as inviting as this cave had done.

Reaching into his pocked he pulled out the Materia he had unearthed in Niebleham, making a small pile of dry crisp leaves he placed it on top and a small fire started to kindle into bright life.

Their crackling was strangely comforting to him and he nearly wept with joy when it burst into glorious flame. He lay down among the twigs and the leaves feeling them rustle and snap beneath him curling his body towards the fires blessed heat.

His eyes grew heavy and his vision blurred soon he was fast asleep oblivious to anything put the pull of the sandman.

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"I know how I can get Sephiroth, I must enlist the help of Cloud Strife, but how do I get him to help me" Hojo of Shinra Inc said thoughtfully after the analysis of his carefully mapped charts.

"Tifa Lockheart" he shouted after a long moment of thought.

He'd remembered from a memory that had been buried in his mind, pushed to the back by all the formulae and data that over crammed his brain, but everything was stored within there, even the smallest of memories could be the proverbial straw that broke the camels back, so he always made a mental note of everything he had ever seen or heard.

_Flashback_

"Hojo please you can't take away his future" Lucrecia had sobbed as Hojo continued his search through the village of Niebleham.

"He's a boy he has a life, dreams doesn't he deserve some happiness?" her beautiful eyes had lost their spark, her once lustful hair hanging dankly in a loose plait down her back, her face was gaunt and shallow her once healthy complexion having vanished.

He'd been about to turn around and give her a stinging retort when a nearby conversation had stopped him

"I hate that Sephiroth sometimes" the young boy with spiky blonde hair had announced to the young woman with dark hair sat next to him.

"You don't even know him Cloud" she's retorted seemingly defensive on Sephiroth's behalf, Hojo wondered if they would be able to tell him for his protégé was being that he had some unfinished business with him, given the young blondes retort he imagined that he may be more than happy to help him.

"Yeah but he's always saying he's got it rough when he has everything that any of us could possibly dream of" Cloud had grunted and the raven haired youth had stood up her whole posture rigid with anger.

"Cloud Strife" she shouted her face turning red as she openly fumed, Hojo decided it was probably best if he remained undetected being as he doubted he would receive a pleasant welcome where he to interrupt the heated banter between the two.

"Your nothing but a jealous jerk you don't even know him so if I was you I'd think before I opened my big dumb mouth" she'd stormed off leaving a bemused Cloud in her wake.

"God what I'd do to him if I ever got my hands on him" he muttered, slouching on off in the direction the woman had gone.

"Tifa wait up" he shouted.

_End Flashback_

Hojo had not been bothered with his tit bit of information back then, annoyed that they hadn't seemed to know Sephiroth's ware bouts and that he had been unable to reveal himself in order to even try and gain any sort of information..

But now he could use Clouds hate to his advantage.

His laugh resounded round the walls, it echoed with a sinister air making Lucrecia who'd been asleep peacefully on the science facilities couch awaken as fear clutched her heart.

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The soft lilting music seemed to float around the room, touching each couple in turn.

Cloud tightened his hold on Tifa using the slow seductive music as a perfect excuse to get closer, his hands drifted to clasp lightly at her derriere and he slid a leg between her own all the while keeping their bodies moving with the beat and totally missing how her body seemed to tense.

Tifa tried desperately to keep back her look of dismay instead she smiled at him.

He mistook it for a good sign leaning his head in closer to her his lips merely inches away from her lips, she turned her head so that his lips connected wetly with her cheek, it wasn't that she disliked him it was just that she didn't want to give him any false hope that anything could happen between them, she would always belong to someone else.

He looked at her his face crumpled but didn't say a word, what could he say when she had shown her rejection of him so well.

The music ended and Tifa excused herself leaving Cloud to stand alone and watch her depart, she didn't like hurting him but to lead him on would be cruel, she knew all too well what hurt felt like and to make him think he stood a chance with her would be the ultimate hurt of all.

Sighing she slipped outside, letting the cool wind caress her face.

"Tifa" it was barely a whisper and yet she heard it so perfectly, turning she saw the figure hidden by the moonlight the slight glow of his eyes evident in the darkness and a wry smile lit her lips when she realized that he had followed her.

"Cloud?" she said taking a step forward, her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could see that it wasn't Cloud as he was slightly taller than the man shrouded in the nights shadows.

"Not Cloud" the man said in his low voice. She frowned she didn't know anybody else with mako eyes that glowed, her heart stopped.

"Sephiroth" she said pure joy lighting up the shadows that had plagued her face, he'd come for her just as she had known he always would do, all her inner hopes had finally paid off and she was going to be in his embrace again

"Oh Sephiroth" she said running into the arms of the stranger, she looked up only to find that her joy was to be short lived.

"Zack" she gasped out in dismay and would have screamed if his hand hadn't covered her mouth, his blade digging into the small of her back, her body seemed to freeze for a moment as she stood in the hold of a man she had hoped never to meet again.

"Your coming with me Tifa" he said the soft voice replaced with raspy scorn, she kicked and struggled but he was too strong, dragging her resisting figure to a nearby car were several soldier members sat inside to hold her.

She was bound and gagged and thrust into the back, her dress tearing on the door, a peace of the white silk fluttered to the ground unnoticed by Zack, he always was arrogant in the face of triumph.

"Hojo has big plans for you Tifa" he said slamming the door and walking round to the passenger side, positioning himself behind the wheel he speared a glance in his mirror and gunned the engine a sinister smile curving his lips.

The car disappeared in a flurry of smoke and dust, leaving only the view of the fading taillights in its wake.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sephiroth bolted up his breathing coming in gasps. Tifa, something had happened to Tifa.

_How does it feel to know you never have to be alone  
When you get home?  
There must be someplace here that only you and I could go  
So I can show you how I feel_

_Lyrics taken from Maroon 5 'Sweetest Goodbye'_

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

So do I have you all in suspense yet? Are you all keen to read more? Have more up soon

Angel-Wings XxXxXxXxX


	5. Chapter 4

**Sleeping with her Enemy **

Locked Within Pain

_Catch me as I fall  
Say you're here and it's all over now  
Speaking to the atmosphere  
No one's here and I fall into myself  
This truth drives me  
Into madness  
I know I can stop the pain  
If I will it all away_

_

* * *

The shackles dug painfully into her delicate wrists and ankles, cutting into the soft flesh, her surroundings did little to ease her sense of discomfort being that the cell in which they held her was bare, there were no windows with which to let the sun shine through and the flouresant lights overhead hurt her eyes and caused her head to ache._

She took no heed of the pain; it was so hard to define among the others, she had been subjected to many things since they had brought her here, had suffered each brutal blow they bestowed upon her, she swallowed and grimaced at the coppery taste that filled her mouth.

Blood, her blood there was enough of it there to taste.

Her head hung dejectedly, she'd lost the energy to lift it proudly as if in defiance, they'd seen to that when they had let loose on her only moments before, she had nothing left to give them now, she had been determined to keep her pride in tact but that too had been taken from her, she had been a person when they had first brought her in…now she was just hollow.

They had broken her she was no more only a dejected shell that had once been vibrant with life and vitality, she had given into the fear that had been simmering on the edge of her consciousness.

What did they want her for?

She'd never really had cause to mix with Shinra, never really got involved with the political side of things, true she had helped the reactors to be destroyed but they knew nothing of that, as far as she was concerned she was as nameless and faceless as the other people who walked the planet when it came to Shinra.

Hearing of how they usually treated their prisoners she had always made sure to cover her tracks when she had helped Barret in his fights against the multi-billion gill corporation, had taken in pride in forming Avalanche right under their snooty noses and helping bring equality to all the people they repressed.

But she was still just a girl, it wasn't like she possessed anything of great value or worth, she could fight and she could talk probably two things that were in her favour but other than that she had nothing more to offer.

What did she have that was so important that would enable them to subject her to this cruelty? Looking down she saw droplets of water hitting the cold hard floor of her cell.

It wasn't until Tifa tasted the salt upon her lips that she realized she was crying.

* * *

Cloud looked down at the jagged piece of silken cloth clutched between his gloved hands, he had eventually followed after his friend once he had contemplated her speedy departed only to realize that she was nowhere to be seen, all that remained was the soggy cloth he now held in his palm, someone had taken Tifa, she was gone and he didn't know where.

He'd blamed himself if he'd gone out after her straight away like he had wanted to would he have prevented this?

Questions whirred around in his mind as he drove himself crazy with all those what ifs that he was thinking about, but deep inside he knew that if it had not happened this night then it would only have happened another time when she had been on her own.

He brought the silk to his lips and savored the smell, he frowned Gasoline! The carbon type, purified for a special type of vehicle...Shinra.

He remembered the smell from his years in Soldier; it made his skin crawl at the thought of Tifa being man handled by the miscreants who worked there, although many of them had been decorated as hero's he knew all too well what it had been like working alongside them, remembered the things some of them would do to pretty girls who caught their eyes.

He'd need help bypassing the Shinra security system; the complexity of not only the surroundings but the entire building still had the ability to boggle his mind, all he knew was that he had to get inside and in all his years he knew there had only ever been one man able to leave Shinra by his own will alone.

Sephiroth

Cloud nearly laughed at the irony; his most hated enemy had become his most needed ally the question was where was he?

He had not seen his old comrade in years, and they had hardly parted on the best of terms, Sephiroth had found out about the experiments that had made him what he was and had proceeded to go catatonic, he and Cloud had argued heatedly when it became apparent that the older man was hell bent on revenge, that he wanted people to pay for his pain.

Then he had disappeared off the map completely, but Cloud was no fool, he knew that Shinra had taken him and although it pained him to admit it he felt sorry for what he knew Sephiroth would be put through once in there, but then he doubted that he had remained their captive for long.

He needed to find him and he needed to find him soon.

* * *

She heard the rattle of keys in the lock and the clink of the door as it shuddered open, the old woodwork creaking as if in pain.

She didn't look up, she knew it would either be Hojo or Zack to gloat at her dejected form, so she was slightly surprised when she felt cool smooth hands sooth her hair away from her face and a tray of food appear within her line of vision, she looked up.

A woman stood before her, copper/brownish coloured hair, a smile on her face, she was wearing a white lab coat that was too big for her frame and her pale eyes peered out from behind round frames, for some reason it seemed odd that someone so nice looking worked here.

But even Tifa could see that she too had slumpiness about her like her spirit had also been broken.

She reached forward and released the shackles on Tifa's wrists but not her ankles she noticed but then she imagined this woman had her orders to follow, she helped Tifa straighten and pulled a chair up closer to her.

Tifa sank into it gratefully, her restraints weren't long enough to enable her to sit down when she had been chained and the pain in her already bruised legs was beginning to ware at her, but she managed to hide it well so as not to show how much they had made her suffer.

"I'm Lucrecia," the woman said softly handing Tifa the trey of food she had brought in, her voice was like a gently breeze so quiet that you almost missed it, it was a change from the harsh voices of Hojo and Zack which she was constantly subjected to.

"Tifa" she said through the mouthfuls of food she was downing like a person who had been starved.

Lucrecia surveyed her and pulled up another chair, Tifa wondered what she thought of the state she projected, she already knew that her hair hung clotted together by the blood that had flown freely from the wounds inflicted on her head.

Her once peaches and cream complexion pale with the patches of bruises that had now taken up residence on it, her lower lip was blooded and her eyes she knew that one of them was black, she wasn't sure about the other although it was just as sore.

"I'm so sorry about all this Tifa" Lucrecia stated the sincerity and concern in her voice was something that could not have been faked, it made Tifa feel warm to know that there was such a kind person in this hell she was subjected to, that not everyone who worked in this building was as evil as Zack and Hojo.

"To see this happen to a man is pretty bad, but to see a woman subjected to this type of brutal treatment is horrifying." Tifa looked through her half open eyes at the woman in front of her and contemplated what she would say.

"If you think it's so bad you could always help me to escape." Lucrecia gasped in horror as soon as the words were uttered.

"I couldn't they'd kill you for trying it and kill me for helping, there was only ever one person who could escape here undetected" Tifa was intrigued, as far as she could recall there had been nobody to escape the clutches of Shinra, they prided themselves on the impenetrable fortress they called headquarters and had a reputation as being so secure nobody could escape once within their grasp.

"Tell me then who has the almighty power to escape from Shinra without them being able to follow, maybe his shining example can give me hope for my own escape" she looked earnestly at Lucrecia waiting for an answer.

Lucrecia looked down for a minute; her eyes seemed almost luminous in their sadness.

"It was my son, Hojo's and mine although he'll never claim his as his own, all he is to Hojo is another experiment, a life he created to be superior to everyone else., I had to give him up to Hojo though once he was born; you see I was the ship for the prized cargo that Hojo had created, but he was much more to me than cargo much more, everything he was subjected to I felt, Each pain that pierced his body was like my own, then when he was twenty he escaped for a while, but when Hojo started ransacking Niebleham he gave up all to easily, like there was something there that he didn't want Hojo to find."

Tifa swallowed "w…w…what was his name" she asked suddenly finding it difficult to focus or breath.

"Sephiroth" Lucrecia said and gasped in dismay as Tifa crumpled off her chair her still form crumpling to a heap onto the floor.

* * *

Red XIII needed to unburden himself, if he thought his knowledge of what he had overheard was relevant then he had to let Cloud know, he couldn't keep it to himself if it had any significance as to why Tifa had been taken or how they could get her back.

But what could he say?

How could he tall Cloud that Tifa was in love with someone who Cloud had hated all his life? How did you put into words that the one woman you cared for more than life itself, who you wanted to spend the rest of your days with would never want you for she was in love with the enemy?

Would it push him away from her? Would it make him loath her? It was a risk a very big risk but Red XIII conceded that he had no other choice so it was a risk he was going to have to take, for her safety he would have to put her friendship with Cloud through the ultimate test.

"Tifa" he whispered, "forgive me but there is just no other way"

* * *

His senses were on full alert as he paced his grassy surroundings.

Something had happened to Tifa he knew it he could feel it at the very core of his soul, what if something really bad had happened to her? What if they had finally found out the secret he had been keeping and they had taken her as a means to get him back?

Thoughts of a world where Tifa was not in it for him to love or for her to return his love suddenly seemed the loneliest place in the world.

His thoughts went back to that day, five years ago when they had met, when he'd been unable to feel and when she had claimed his heart without his knowledge of the fact, when she had shown him that there were people in the world who showed kindness rather than cruelty and viciousness.

**Flashback **

Five years ago

He'd struggled through the forest; his legs slightly numb in the aftermath of the drugs they had pumped into his system.

The sun stung his eyes as he moved making him unable to see properly as blurriness meshed with his vision, he'd stumbled along feeling the undergrowth that he was clawing his way through the brambles harshly digging into his bare torso.

He heard the rip of his pants and felt the pine needles dig into the soft flesh of his feet, he didn't care about any of it, he was free and to him that meant everything, he was able to inhale the scent of the forest and the fresh air rather than the chemical induced smog that constantly surrounded him

He collapsed on the floor close to the Niebleham Lake; it's sparkling beauty beckoning him to sleep on its smooth banks.

His eyes had started to become drowsy; they had begun drooping when a lilting voice singing jerked them open to attention and he sat up abruptly, his eyes scanned about him almost hesitantly, his escape was too new for him to be discovered yet he needed to locate the source of such a beautiful voice

There she was a woman with raven hair and rose coloured lips, a pale blue dress clinging to her small frame molding to her youthful curves.

It looked as though she had been crying.

He would have liked to call out to her, for some reason he wanted to see what she would look like when she smiled or when she laughed, something so beautiful should not cry as she was, but his head had ached so badly and on a startled cry he'd slipped into unconsciousness noting that her gaze turned to register him with shocked eyes before the darkness took him.

**End flashback**

A noise startled Sephiroth out of his memories leaping high into the trees, hidden amongst the leaves he let his gaze wonder over the opening he had just vacated and watched as two figures walked and stopped beneath him, he recognized them instantly.

"Clouds going to try and rescue her" Yuffie said to Aeris as they stopped to take a breather.

"Do you think that Tifa is safe?" she said looking into Aeris's turquoise eyes. Aeris looked down, her eyes seemed sad and Sephiroth could remember a time when she had always been smiling, he had not known her for very long during her brief courtship with Zack, before he had turned into a monster he had been a pretty decent guy, and he remembered how he had been able to make Aeris smile.

"If soldier have her then god only knows what she's being subjected to Yuffie" she said her voice hollow, it was a sentiment he shared but then again he knew what Soldier were capable of and he'd be damned if he'd leave her to their mercy.

"In fact by the time Cloud finds Sephiroth it may already be too late."

They walked away at a slow pace their heads bowed. Sephiroth frowned so it was true, the Shinra really did have Tifa, but it posed the question as to why they had taken her and whether or not they knew about her place in his heart, then he realized what else they had said and stilled.

Cloud wanted his help?

Clamoring down from his perch he knew what he had to do and set off after the departing women, as much as he and Cloud had a dark history and an even darker past he was willing to put it behind him if it meant he could help Tifa

He made sure to follow them slowly being careful to keep a good distance behind them.

_Fallen angels at my feet  
Whispered voices at my ear  
Death before my eyes  
Lying next to me I fear  
She beckons me  
Shall I give in  
Upon my end shall I begin  
Forsaking all I've fallen for  
I rise to meet the end_

_Lyrics From Evanescence 'Whisper'_

* * *

Hope that you liked that sorry it took so long to update. Have another one up soon ok. Thanks also for the reviews

Angel-Wings XxXxXxXxX


	6. Chapter 5

**Sleeping with her Enemy **

The Horror Within

_We all come in from the cold  
We come down from the wire  
An everybody warms themselves  
to a different fire  
When sometimes we get burned  
You'd think sometime we'd learn  
The one you love is the one  
That should take you higher  
You ain't got no one  
You better go back out and find her_

* * *

Red XIII cleared his throat and made his way slowly over to golden sands to the cove where Cloud was sat, his frame slumped forward his face cupped by hands that had constantly been shaking.

His mind raced, should he tell him? What would happen once he did?

He hated the fact that he had been placed in this situation, the secret was not his to give and so he was unsure as to if he had the right to give it, plus Cloud had been totally irrational since Tifa had disappeared.

So it leant to the question as to what sort of response he was hoping to get when he revealed the truth.

In fact Red XIII was not sure that he would get a stable reaction from him especially since he was telling him that the woman he loved was in love but not with him.

It was quite a daunting scenario really; it was just unfortunate that Red XIII was going to have to play a part in it, it wasn't as though he had asked for the knowledge he had to give.

He was always seen as the wise one, granted he may have seen more than most had in this group but that didn't mean he knew everything, that he was more experienced.

He was hardly the person to give advice on matters of love; he had believed that his parents had a rocky marriage, that his father had abandoned his people in favour of saving his own hide.

If he could be so wrong about something as close to him as his parents then how the hell was he going to be able to explain the Tifa Sephiroth equation and explain it in a way that wouldn't cause a bad response from the usually laid back blonde.

Deciding that a direct approach would have to suffice since he couldn't very well beat about the bush with it he took a step forward, taking a deep breath he coughed loud enough to get the blondes attention.

"Um Cloud can I have a word?"

* * *

Cool water dropped over her face making her shiver slightly, she suddenly became aware of the agonising pain that throbbed at the side of her head.

She jerked up as realisation as to where she was set in, she was being held prisoner in Shinra and up until a few moments ago she had been enjoying a hot mean, a refreshing drink and a quite civil conversation.

She'd been talking to Lucrecia, a woman who had shown her kindness and who had revealed that she was in fact Sephiroth's mother.

Sephiroth

He had been here all this time, her vision blurred with tears at the thoughts of what he could have been subjected to while within the Shinra building, no wonder he hadn't contacted her, she doubted that the Shinra would let him use any means to communicate with the world outside.

The horrors and mental tortures that they had probably played on his ravaged body

But now he was gone and she knew that he'd never return, not that she blamed him, if she were to find her way out from this hell of a prison she doubted she would ever come back to it for any reason.

Plus nobody knew where she was or who had taken her.

Tifa knew that she would probably die in this place, the cell she was in would be her tomb and nobody would ever find her, she dissolve into nothing but dust and nobody would know.

She looked up into those pale eyes and noted that she could see Sephiroth in Lucrecia's gaze, could see the similarities within her to Sephiroth that she had not noticed before.

What must this woman have endured to watch them treat her son the way they must have, what effect had it had on her mind watching the fruit of her loins suffer day by day.

Did she fear that he held her in contempt?

She could also make out a sadness in this tiny woman's eyes that she had seen every time she looked into the mirror, it was like she too suffered not only the heartbreak of letting her son down but a heartache that echoed Tifa's own.

"Just always remember, when you're with your lover a heartbeat can last a lifetime, but when your alone a minute can seem like an eternity" the voice of Sephiroth from her past echoed in her mind.

He was right and all she had left was a lifetimes worth of eternities.

* * *

"Tell me your joking" Cloud choked out feeling a mixture of pain, anger and betrayal at Red XIII's confession, of all the things he had expected his companion to say it had most certainly not been what he had just said.

Tifa! In love with Sephiroth?

No it can't be his mind argued with him...she couldn't...she wouldn't! She knew what kind of a person Sephiroth was; she knew that he was a loose cannon, that he was unstable.

He had to be lying, that was it, Red was lying to him to see if he could snap him from his mood, he was trying to gain some sort of reaction from him, maybe give him the anger he needed to surface from his stupor.

But the open honesty in Red's face told him that however much he wanted to disbelieve him he couldn't for he most certainly was telling the truth.

Oh god why was this happening to him?

She knew how he felt about Sephiroth and yet she had fallen in love with him, she had given his rival the one thing he himself had wanted most in this world……her heart.

And she hadn't even had the decency to tell him herself, she hadn't even thought he meant enough to her to tell him what she had been doing and with whom, he probably could have accepted it more if it would have come from her.

He ran a hand through his hair and tried to will away the pain that suffused his heart, it felt as though it were shattering into a million jagged pieces and the thought of her with Sephiroth taunted him from every jagged one.

He wanted to lash out; he wanted to lash out at Red for being the one to tell him but the rational part of his mind knew that it wasn't his friend's fault, so he clenched his fists and willed the impulse to go away.

Everyone had someone, Aeris and Barret, Yuffie and Vincent, Cid had Sierra and even Red had his own somebody back at his canyon……so where did that leave him? It left him alone just like he always would be.

His own breath threatened to choke him, god he felt so stupid and so weak for letting this effect him like it was, he was better than that damn it he wasn't spineless.

He turned his back and blinked rapidly, he'd never cried before but he felt the cold trickle of tears slide down his cheeks.

* * *

Sephiroth folded his arms across his chest in an effort to keep warm.

Since he'd started following Yuffie and Aeris the wind had picked up with its relentless howling and was vigorously slashing into his back, however its presence there was more of a irritation than a hindrance.

He felt the rise of goose pimples along his skin and wished desperately for something to cover the top half of his body; even if it had been something fine he doubted he'd have minded at this particular point in time.

But he knew that he would crawl naked over ice and red-hot coals if it meant that he could save his love from the tortures he knew she would be going through.

Turning his head skyward he saw the sun desperately battling to escape the clutches of the dark cottony clouds.

He longed for it to win so that he could feel its loving warmth wash over his frozen skin, maybe just maybe the sun would also be able to unfreeze his dammed soul.

But then he knew of only one sun which would rid him of the ice that resided within him, and it appeared only when Tifa smiled at him, hidden in the sparkle that showed in her eyes.

He longed to see it again, to hold her again, even if it meant going back to Shinra he would spend his remaining days locked in a darkened cell if it meant he could save her from it.

She was so beautiful and vivacious she deserved life and one free of the blackness he seemed to tint it with.

He smiled to himself when he noted the hushed tones with which the two women in front of him talked, judging by their body language he had the inner inkling that they knew he was behind them.

He only hoped that they did not plan to send him away when he wanted nothing more than to help, but a part of him wondered if they would even accept him on a rescue mission.

"Almost there now" Aeris sighed as she spotted the beach of Costa del sol, just up ahead.

Yuffie lowered her voice so that even though Aeris was right next to her she still had to strain to hear her, when she wanted to the ninja could be extremely covert.

"Is he still following?" she said

Aeris closed her eyes concentration etched on her features; just the slight movement of her head showed her companion that yes they were still being followed, she smiled to herself glad that he had not abandoned his trail.

Aeris had been alerted to a presence in the woods just as her and Yuffie were walking through it, it was a presence she was very familiar with, and it had caused her to gasp when she suddenly realised just who followed them so earnestly.

Her senses and her spiritual intuition told her that the character that trailed them was none other than Sephiroth.

* * *

Cloud wondered back up the path towards the inn, he saw the tents upon the nearby ridge that they'd been sleeping in when it was too warm to be indoors.

His mind was numb.

How could she love Sephiroth?

He wasn't even capable of loving; he was like a wild animal vicious and highly unapproachable, how could Tifa love somebody like that? She was warm and soft and caring, all the things that the general was not.

His body shook from the effort of holding back the sobs.

For the first time in Clouds life he felt broken and like he had nothing in this world that mattered to him, the person he hated most had ripped the person whom his world had evolved around from him.

He had known Sephiroth only a short while and had been awed to meet the man in whom he had idolised his entire future on, although the silver haired general was not a great deal older than Cloud himself he had accomplished so much.

Cloud had wanted that for himself, had wanted to break away from his tiny village life and see something of the world, he wanted to be in Soldier and follow in the footsteps of his hero.

He remembered meeting Zack and how they had goofed about together, how he had teased him over his motion sickness, it was a shame to think that his old friend had turned out the way that he had.

But Sephiroth's betrayal was worse, he had made Cloud feel like he was worth nothing and so he had dashed all his dreams with the stern words he had spoken to him and the harsh actions he had used when dealing with him.

The stories he had heard so much when about the Soldier general being a ruthless bastard had all been right on the mark, and finally he had learned to hate Sephiroth hating him for destroying all his foolish notions, for not giving him his favour.

They had fought over many things, argued over petty reasons until finally they had gone their separate ways.

He should have known that Sephiroth would get the last laugh, that he would find out what Cloud cherished most and take it from him, it was the kind of thing someone with a heart as black as Sephiroth's would do.

But where did that place Tifa? What did that make her if she had been seduced so easily?

His heart became full with anger and hatred not just at Sephiroth but at Tifa as well...that was the part that scared him

* * *

Tifa struggled against the men that held her arms biting one and smiling in satisfaction when he howled in pain, she ignored the taste of his blood in her mouth, it was worth it to make her stand.

Zack stepped forward and backhanded her, he head shot back she heard her neck crack almost painfully under the force of it and blood spattered from her nose over the wall.

She gagged as it filled her throat but still she struggled.

The bastards wouldn't get her down, she wouldn't give them the satisfaction, Zack leered at her and she spat in his face, obviously this move was a mistake for he punched her fiercely in the stomach in retaliation and she doubled over dropping to her knees under the intensity of the pain.

Stars danced before her eyes and she felt light headed, was she going to pass out?

"I'll take no more shit from you, you little bitch" he rasped out at her and she tried to breathe properly so she could tell him to go to hell, but all she could do was continue to pant and clutch at her stomach the words not even forming on her tongue.

Zack moved forward and using her hair pulled Tifa along the floor and flung her against the wall, he slammed his body against hers when she stood and his angry face was just inches away from hers.

"Get out" he ground out to the other men who scampered to do his wishes leaving Tifa alone with him, he trailed a finger over her arm causing her to shudder.

He mistakenly took it for desire when in reality she was repulsed.

"You know Tifa if you were to be a good girl and was very nice to me, I could make your stay here a more memorable one" his meaning became clear and before she could think of the consequences she brought he right knee up into his groin.

He dropped to the floor and howled in pain

"You unimaginable bastard" she shouted over the din he was making, years ago she would have probably been flattered at his attention, but not now, never now, he was a murdering lunatic and her skin wanted to crawl every time he touched it.

"If you think I'd ever let you touch me you can forget it" she fumed, pulling herself up painfully on all fours she crawled away from him to the corner.

"I'd rather bathe in acid and gouge my eyes out before I'd let you touch me like that" she huddled pulling her legs towards her, she felt light headed and her vision was beginning to blur.

She heard the distant marching of feet and the shouting of voices.

She knew this time she had over stepped the mark, the door opened and Soldiers men walked in, she was about to pay the price for her resistance.

_I've come to know the cold  
I think of it as home  
When there ain't enough of me  
To go around  
I'd rather be left alone  
But if I call you out of habit  
I'm out of love and I gotta have it  
Would you give it to me  
If I fit your needs  
Like when we both knew we had it  
But now the damage's done  
And we're back out on the run  
Fun how everything was Roses  
When we held on to the Guns  
Just because you're winning  
Don't mean you're the lucky ones_

_Lyrics taken from 'Breakdown' by Guns and Roses_

* * *

I hope that you all enjoyed that chapter. I'll have more on the way soon. Thank you for all your lovely reviews they're really encouraging me to write more.

Angel-Wings XxXxXxXxXxX


	7. Chapter 6

**Sleeping with her Enemy **

Hope Within The Darkness

Fell no pain, but my life ain't easy  
I know I'm my best friend  
No one cares, but I'm so much stronger  
I'll fight until the end  
To escape from the true false world  
Undamaged destiny  
Can't get caught in the endless circle  
Ring of stupidity

* * *

He didn't exactly know what he planned to do next.

He hadn't really been thinking when he'd followed Aeris and Yuffie; all he'd heard was Tifa's name and his body had responded on its own reacting before he had even acknowledged what else had been said.

Soldier had her, which meant she was in the Shinra building and that Cloud needed his help to save her, he didn't relish the thought of meeting with the blonde haired man at all.

When he had been younger and evidently more cocky he had not treated Cloud with an ounce of respect at all, in fact if he were to be brutally honest with himself he had taken the younger mans dreams and spat on each and every one of them.

But things were different now, he had grown up a lot and he had learned exactly what he was…he wasn't special he was a monster and he had long ago come to terms with that.

Cloud wasn't going to rescue Tifa on his own so he was going to have to accept Sephiroth's help even if he didn't want to, there was no way in hell he was leaving Tifa in there any longer than was necessary.

He cringed at the thought of her being held by Shinra he knew what type of man Hojo was and Zack his right hand man was even worse.

Images of her in pain flashed through his mind god he felt useless.

He was not the man who he had once been, he still held himself with a ruthless air and could stop a man in his tracks with nothing but a menacing look, but he was hardly the Soldier general he had once been legendary known as.

Years of life as a test subject had depleted a lot of his strength not to mention the fact that his escape had taken a lot out of him.

Sighing he wondered just what help he was going to be to the group, they would just have to accept that he was willing to fight till his last breath to get Tifa out of Shinra.

He would not leave her there to rot.

He didn't know why Cloud wanted his help Cloud hated him he always had, Sephiroth frowned they would have to put their squabbling behind them, and Sephiroth knew that he would also have to tell them of his and Tifa's past... their romance!

A groan forced its way past his lips, he doubted that it would go down well with the group but he would not start a truce based on lies, he would be honest and up front so they would know why he was doing what he was doing.

He loved Tifa with all that was left of his heart, and it was nothing to be ashamed of and nothing he was going to hide like a dirty secret that couldn't be told.

Lifting his head up high he quickened his pace determined to show them he had what it took to save her.

* * *

It hurt so badly she'd never been in so much pain before it was like burning it stung and made her feel dizzy, she could taste bile in the back of her throat and bit back the reflex impulse to gag

Her eyes flittered open and she noted that her focus was a little fuzzy but she was beginning to adjust...a little.

Pressing a hand to her temple she felt the bump it was quite big and throbbed with intense pain, she tried not to move too much, judging by the weird sensations she was beginning to get she had the slightest feeling she had concussion.

Looking down at her legs slowly so as not to cause more dizziness she grimaced, her ankle was swollen and she was pretty sure that she'd dislocated her knee it was at a weird angle.

Three fingers on her left hand were broken and a huge slash mark adorned her right cheek, but all Tifa really cared about was the fact that she was alive.

Pulling herself along with her good arm she managed to make it to the wall using the last of her strength to sit up and lean her body against it, she'd be damned if she was going to lay on the floor like some beaten animal

She looked up and saw the newly placed surveillance camera moving to get her in a better focus.

"What do you want with me?" she screamed at the thing wishing she had something handy nearby to smash the lens.

She felt the blood still trickling out of her nose and used her sleeve to wipe it away, deciding that her health was worth far more than her dignity she lay down on the cold hard floor, it felt nice against her bruised and swollen flesh but inside she felt utterly dejected.

She wasn't getting out of here and she wasn't sure how much more punishment she could take.

She had been holding on to the hope that Cloud and the others would come and save her, he'd always promised to be there for her when she needed him and now she needed him to take her away from all this and he hadn't come.

Where was Sephiroth, why had he not come to save her? Did he even care that she was here? Did he even know? Would he even have come for her knowing that she was locked behind the walls he had only recently escaped from?

It was with a heavy heart she knew that she could never really answer the questions; she would have loved to say yes they would have come for her if they knew where she was, and yes Sephiroth would once again enter this god forsaken place only to take her from it.

But she couldn't.

She had been broken but the thing that had helped to break her most of all was that Tifa knew she had lost hope, and hope had been the only thing that had kept her going.

* * *

Red XIII was the first to spot him, his long silver hair was unmistakeable but it had still taken him a moment to register just who he was, Vincent spotted him only seconds after frowning a little then his face looked utterly shocked as recognition dawned in his eyes.

Barret saw him next his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water it was quite comical, Red would have laughed if he hadn't seen Cloud turn and freeze.

Anger was etched out on his features as his eyes rested on Sephiroth now no more than a foot away, his eyes were narrowed into dangerous slits and his body had taken on a more defensive posture

Sephiroth came to a halt about a metre in front of the gang, uncertainty written on his face.

"I um I heard that you were looking for me" he said quietly, his voice was so unlike the one that had commanded the entire ranks of Soldiers, who had scorned in the face of enemies before giving them a taste of his sword, now he seemed almost subdued somehow.

"Yes we were, we were wondering if you could help us... it's Tifa" Red finally said looking Sephiroth squarely in the eye searching for a flicker of emotion or any indication as to what he was thinking or feeling.

Sephiroth never missed a beat and his eyes gave nothing away.

""So I take it you know" he said looking at the ground and shuffling his feet in a little boy sort of way, the movement seemed so odd coming from someone who held a reputation such as Sephiroth's.

"Only me and Cloud" Red said causing Sephiroth's eyes to shoot up and look first at him then Cloud, Cloud stepped forward and looked into Sephiroth's eyes.

"Humph" he ground out he was in no way going to make this easy for Sephiroth, he may need the other mans help but that certainly didn't mean he had to be happy about it and he would be damned if he was going to bite his tongue whilst he was around him.

"I can't believe what I was told, you in love" he laughed.

"You're incapable of it and why would Tifa be in love with a monster like you?" he said the words harshly practically spitting them at the man before him pouring all of his hatred and venom into each one that left his lips.

Cloud had expected Sephiroth to react in anger but he was totally unprepared for the pain that clouded his eyes marred with the sheen of forming tears.

"I don't know," he said quietly having gone back to staring at the ground.

"But" he added a hint of the expected anger showing now he was not known as a legend for nothing and Cloud would have been disappointed if he had not given some irate response, he didn't know why he would have felt let down he just knew that he would have.

"I love her and don't you ever tell me I don't, I gave up my happiness with her for love. I went back to be a lab rat so that they wouldn't find out about her" he sighed running a hand through his hair a look of pain flashing across his face

"Look at me" he said showing his arms that were bruised, his skin that was sallow and pale and his body which was not as fleshy as it had once been.

"Did you think I wanted a life like this for her? I left because I had to make a choice, if she was found they would have taken her made her life miserable like mine was without her, I never got to say goodbye because of them" he cursed his voice filled with hate.

Then it filled with sadness as he added "and I never got to tell her that I loved her"

* * *

Lucrecia was so saddened at the sight of this once beautiful woman reduced to this.

She'd been given permission to take Tifa to the infirmary where she had been treating her wounds, her knee had been dislocated so it had been reset, although she had thought three of her fingers on her left hand to be broken they were merely sprained so a painkiller had been in order.

Now Tifa was sleeping off the effects of the drugs Lucrecia had used to quell her pain.

She moved a stray strand of hair from her face; even the scars of the beating she had received couldn't mar her beauty.

And she was kind Lucrecia had gathered as much when she had spoken to her the previous night, it was a rare trait but Lucrecia was not surprised an inner voice seemed to tell her that Tifa was not like most women.

This woman was a commodity she embodied power and gentleness at the same time as well as resistance to help Shinra.

"Oh Sephiroth" she whispered her gaze still on the sleeping girl a hint of sadness colouring her voice

"No wonder you loved her so much" Lucrecia knew that the only reason Sephiroth had returned was because of this woman, she'd guessed as much by Tifa's reactions the other night, he'd been trying to protect her from the life that had now been bestowed upon her.

A life that knew nothing but endless cruelty.

It was a life Sephiroth had lived every day until he had finally escaped from its clutches, away from Hojo's madness and Shinra's need for power.

Lucrecia had longed to break away from this place herself, but the thought of people suffering so needlessly had forced her to stay, she had to make it bearable for people like Tifa, had to show that people who wanted to make a difference through science didn't have to resort to cruelty.

When she had first joined the science department she had been so pleased, her father had been an inventor and she had longed to follow a similar route so that she could make him proud.

Things had been different then, the scientists had not been the way they were now, they had loved the trill of finding new things, of studying life and evolution learning what made things tick.

She wondered where it had all went so horribly wrong.

Then Jenova had come, and they had wanted to use the cells they had found within the entity to make more powerful beings, at the time she had been in the depths of an unrequited love for Hojo, had been miserable that he did not return her feelings, then suddenly he was looking at her, making flirty comments to her and helping her with her projects.

She should have seen it coming really, he had used her foolish love as a way to get her into bed, only to infect her with his Jenova riddled seed.

Sephiroth was to have been his pride and glory, his ultimate experiment, but she had never viewed him as a lab rat, had never seen him as a monster like the other scientists and even people had.

She had loved him, and she had been so proud when Hojo had allowed him to join Soldier were he was almost instantly promoted to general.

But then Hojo had shattered his life and she had been left on the side lines to watch as the man she now hated with a passion used their son as his experiment.

"I'm so sorry" she whispered unsure if she was talking to the girl sleeping on the bed or the son she felt she had failed.

* * *

Yuffie made her way over to Sephiroth as he sat on Tifa's bed; sitting next to him she placed a hand on his shoulder and felt him stiffen at her friendly contact.

"I guess you're not used to this" she mused lightly she wondered if he had had any human contact with people who were not like the scientists that Shinra employed, people who only touched him to hurt him more.

"I uh guess not" he said

"You know" Yuffie said "I was quite shocked when I was told about yours and Tifa's past relationship but I guess it kind of explains a lot of things."

Sephiroth glanced up at her frowning "what do you mean?" he asked puzzled.

"Well Tifa was always so sad, like she'd lost something precious" she said softly turning her face towards him she smiled at Sephiroth, something in her gaze showed that she was happy about the fact that he had been with her friend.

"Now I know what it was" she said giving his shoulder a friendly squeeze.

Sephiroth was touched by such a generous gesture, nobody had ever referred to him as being precious before, nobody except for his mother and Tifa, he was humbled by Yuffie's opinion of him and he told her so with the slight smile that crossed his lips.

"Thank you" he said thickly.

Yuffie nodded "I know that you going away wasn't your fault Sephiroth, I'm not blind to the marks that shout their presence on your skin, there must have been a reason that you left her..." she looked at him expectantly and he realised that she wanted him to give her an answer.

"I wanted to protect her" he said after a pause.

"If they knew that I was in love than they would have taken her, used her as a bargaining tool against me, hurt her and punished her for my weaknesses, they'd use her as a breeding instrument to pass on my perfect genes; I didn't want that kind of life for her... I wanted to saver her from it"

Turning back he buried his head in his hands

"But now she's got it anyway, she's there with them and I can't do a god damn thing" he punched the wall next to him making a huge dent in it and causing Yuffie to jump in shock.

"Don't worry" she said fiercely "we'll get her out of there Sephiroth... I promise." he looked into her determined eyes and he knew that he could believe her.

* * *

**Tifa's Dream**

"Hey that tickles," he laughed as she blew into his ear, which only made her do it all the more she loved it when she caused a reaction in him and she could spend hours just listening to him laugh.

He hugged her body close as she giggled when he began pressing butterfly kisses on her neck.

"You make me so happy do you know that" Sephiroth said teasing the lose tendrils of her hair as they stuck to the moistness of her skin she glowed under his touch as well as his compliment.

"You do the same for me" she whispered and then as though her mood had suddenly changed the sobs had come shaking her delicate frame as he held her in her arms.

"What's wrong?" he asked pulling her back from him so he could look at her, he had an odd look in his eyes as he searched her face, it was though he were absorbing her features whilst trying to discover what had caused her sudden sadness.

"Is it worth it" she sobbed at him trying desperately to nestle closer, needing the warmth of his embrace.

"Listen to me" he said pulling her close again, his hand stroking her raven hair, she sniffled and shuddered in his arms and concentrated on the words he was saying rather than the storm that was waging a war inside her.

He paused for a moment before continuing as though pondering what he was going to say.

"I wouldn't change a thing about now, even though I know that we can't always been together" his voice was husky and filled with emotion and she felt her heart clench.

He kissed her hair

"Just always remember, when you're with your lover a heartbeat can last a lifetime, but when your alone a minute can seem like an eternity" she had looked up at him a smiled breaking through the tears, it was going to be all right.

He'd gone she'd woken up early to meet him and he'd never shown, he'd left her and hadn't even said goodbye.

The tears had come then and the sobs as she'd run home and flung herself on her bed crying as though the very foundation of her soul had been torn from her in the most painful of ways.

"Why did you leave me?" she sobbed into the empty air. Her heart was bruised it hurt so badly people often talked about a broken heart and she could feel it shattering into a million pieces.

She was tumbling down into a pit of despair and she wondered if she could ever climb out again.

**End Tifa's dream**

She shot upright and winced as a pain went shooting down her body.

Looking round she frowned where was she? This wasn't her cell and she was lying in a bed... had she been saved?

But turning she saw a sleeping Lucrecia on the chair nearby and knew that she was still indeed in the middle of hell, even if there was an angel amongst the monsters.

She sank back onto the pillows; she didn't know how much longer she'd be allowed this luxury so she planned on savouring every minute, for now she could close her eyes and pretend that she was somewhere safe and warm and protected.

For the first time she didn't feel afraid and she was revelling in that feeling.

Don't let the bastards grind you down was something her father would have said, a smile touched her lips when she thought of him, he had and always would be one of the strongest men she had ever known

He was right she shouldn't let them break her, she'd get out of here her friends would come... Cloud would come of that she was sure.

Maybe he would come she thought my knight in shining armour here to save me from the fires of hell before they burn me up.

She smiled a little, if she could think like that then maybe she'd be ok maybe they wouldn't break her and maybe just maybe her prayers to the god she had nearly abandoned would be answered after all.

_Out of my own, out to be free  
One with my mind, they just can't see  
No need to hear things that they say  
Life is for my own to live my own way  
See they try to bring the hammer down  
No damn chains can hold me to the ground  
Life is for my own to live my own way_

_Lyrics taken from 'Escape' By Metallica_

* * *

Hope that it was good it might be a while till I update as it's half term and I don't have a computer running at home yet, but I might be able to I don't know yet. Thank you for all your lovely reviews its nice to know that you like what I write and I'll try and get more on the way to you soon.

Angel-Wings XxXxXxXxXxX


	8. Chapter 7

**Sleeping with her Enemy  
**

**Suspensions**

_How can you see into my eyes like open doors  
leading you down into my core  
where I've become so numb without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold  
until you find it there and lead it back home_

* * *

It had been so long since he had seen her and he wondered what she would look like now that the long lonely years had passed between them.

She would be beautiful of that he had no doubt; she had always been beautiful to him but not only on the outside but on the inside where it counted, it was a rare trait within people one that she had undoubtedly possessed.

Looking over to where the others were huddled Sephiroth felt like an outsider, unwelcome by one the others bar two weary of him, Yuffie and Aeris seemed to be in his corner and maybe he thought Red XIII was but he wasn't really sure due to his quiet and thoughtful nature.

Vincent hadn't really voiced an opinion on him as of yet, out of all the people in the group he could probably relate to the brooding man more, they had both suffered at the hands of Shinra and they both still bore the scars.

He already knew what Cloud's opinion of him would be and he didn't blame the blonde for being angry as well as apprehensive of him, in the past he had only ever been concerned about protecting his own precious ass.

But things were different now, years of being fed a constant diet of unknown drugs, and the tortures of his body and his mind had forced him to grow up in ways he had never really realised he'd needed to.

Well as far as Cloud was concerned, he didn't know what it was but the younger man had always seemed to bring out the competitor in him not to mention the cockiness; he wondered now if it was because Cloud had possessed something back then that he had never had.

Excitement, naivety, innocence, awe, and much much more.

He'd never really had the chance to idolise anybody and he had been so very much a young man himself that he had been unable to handle the borage of questions the young spiky blonde had bombarded him with.

So he'd made it his personal mission to make sure the other boy had not wanted to be anything like him.

But a part of him was trying to be cruel to be kind, with youth came impressionability and a part of him wondered if Cloud knew just what Sephiroth had had to endure to become as good as he was if the blonde would want something similar done to himself.

So it was easier for his comrade to see him as a miserable, cocky, self centred bastard than as a enhanced experiment he could be just like.

But that was in the past now, he didn't need the trust of this group to do what needed to be done, he wasn't here for any of them and he didn't owe them a thing.

He caught Barret eyeing him and lifted his head proudly.

He was here for Tifa and that was something that nobody could make him ashamed of.

* * *

Cloud was still coming to terms with the fact that Sephiroth was here, but he found that he was viewing the older man in a slightly less hostile way and it was beginning to bother him, if he had his anger to hold onto then that would be fine.

Loving Tifa as Cloud did then he could appreciate what Sephiroth was feeling because he shared it.

His earlier revelation the day before was still having a shocking impact on him, but even though he was loath to admit it Cloud knew that he had not been lying when he'd discussed the depth of his feelings for Tifa.

But it didn't make the pain any easier.

Did Tifa truly love Sephiroth? Would Red really lie to him about something that he knew would destroy Cloud's heart? Had Sephiroth looked him in the eye and lied about everything he said he had felt?

He knew the answer was a definite no to all bar one.

So why had Tifa hidden it from him? She was supposed to be his friend and yet she hadn't told him the truth...but even he had to admit silently that he knew the answer and it caused a pain to clench his heart.

Tifa had known that Cloud was in love with her even if she didn't want to acknowledge the fact; she hadn't wanted to hurt him.

But he also knew that Tifa hadn't wanted to hurt herself.

If she spoke of Sephiroth and she truly did love him then thinking about him leaving her would have been painful to retell and she hadn't wanted or needed the pain of it.

Thinking about it the way he was now it felt as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders that had been the reason why she had been so aloof from the group, it was the reason why she had held him at a distance.

She had been pining for something she had lost.

He felt his previous anger melt away under the force of his new revelation, and for once his heart felt as though it were at peace, he loved Tifa and there was nothing he could do to change that, but he knew that he loved her enough to let her go.

Turning he assessed Sephiroth silently, the other man had indeed changed from the man he Cloud had once known him as, and he could silently admit that he seemed so broken up over what had happened, that he had to love Tifa as much as he said he did.

Now he saw just what it was his friend had seen in him and a small smile crossed his lips.

"I'm so sorry I never understood till now Tifa" he whispered to the wind.

"But I'll tell you how happy I am for you in person... I'd rather you be happy without me than miserable with me" however he decided he it would be best if he never admitted that she had been miserable anyway.

* * *

Allowing her eyes to open it took her a few moments to realize where she was, the blurry overhead lights hurt her eyes and she had to blink in rapid succession in order for her vision to focus properly.

Then realization hit her like a rock, she gasped slightly alerting the man sat by her side.

"Ah so sleeping beauty finally decided to grace us with her company then" rasped the voice that she had come to loath and she turned and faced the man who was responsible for her agony and who she hated with an intensity that almost scared her.

"Hojo" she hissed at the dark haired scientist sat in the chair near her bed.

His jet black hair was scraped back from his face in a ponytail that reached just between his shoulder blades, his skin was quite sallow looking yet he could not be classed as unattractive…he wore his years well, his glasses sat on the bridge of his nose and his shrewd eyes studied and assessed her.

"You know you took a very big risk attacking Zack like that" he stated curtly she laughed mockingly, she would not cower in front of this man, he had taken everything from her so in theory she had nothing left to loose.

"I didn't like the way he spoke to me and I certainly didn't like the way he was touching me, nobody and I mean nobody but the man I love is allowed to touch me like that Hojo" she stated in a voice that matched his.

But inside she was quivering with rage, how dared he class Zack as the injured party and she was certainly not going to feel sorry for him the pompous bastard.

Lifting her head she looked Hojo dead in the eye, if he was going to poison her with his presence then she was going to get some answers, and if he had a problem with the way in which she asked them then that was his touch luck, a man like him deserved no courtesy or respect.

"What the hell am I doing here? You domineering dictator" Hojo laughed at her daring.

"You have Spirit Miss Lockheart I'll give you that, you'll make a perfect specimen for my new experiment, my old one seems to have temporarily escaped my grasp..."

"You mean Sephiroth?" she cut in sharply causing Hojo to jerk to attention, his eyes narrowed to sinister slits and something dark and almost deadly seemed to flicker within his gaze.

"Who told you that" he ground out and Tifa cursed her runaway mouth.

"I erm I heard the rumour of it" she backtracked hastily holding in a sigh of relief when Hojo's look went back to normal as he accepted that, Sephiroth was a much talked about man obviously there had more than likely been tales about his feats.

"Well yes I did have Sephiroth within my building; he came all too eagerly when we raided Niebleham" she didn't like the sudden tone in his voice or the way in which he was looking at her, it were as though he knew something that she was trying to hide.

"I wonder why that was Miss Lockheart" he asked slowly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" she said indignant, she was the one being held here against her will, she wasn't going to give him any answers nor was she going to make it easy for him to get them from her, they couldn't make her talk and she was not going to.

"Oh I think you do" he said a smile spreading over his face making him look menacing and suddenly despite all the torture and beatings she'd been through Tifa was very afraid.

* * *

"Look we've got to agree on this" Sephiroth cut in after Barret dismissed his idea for the seventh time in about ten minutes, his head was pounding and if he didn't get some co-operation soon he was more than likely going to start knocking heads together.

He would not loose Tifa because of someone else's stubbornness.

"Hey who the hell died and made you leader?" Barret asked huffily crossing his arms and giving off an air of someone who was annoyed at being ordered around by a person he considered his enemy.

"I did" a voice echoed from behind them and they all turned to face Cloud.

Ignoring his comrades Cloud walked up to Sephiroth, his eyes roved over his face as though searching for something and moistening his lips he began to speak.

"I don't like you" he stated matter of factly; his tone was what one might use when discussing the weather.

"I think that you have everything Sephiroth and you don't even seem bothered by it all... but I also wanted to say that I believe that you really did make Tifa truly happy for her to be like she was and for that I want…I want to thank you" he said slowly as the others gave what could only be described as looks of pure bewilderment.

"So what say we work together to rescue the woman we love?" he held out his hand and although Sephiroth was dazed with shock he took Cloud's hand in his shaking it in his firm grip.

He wanted to tell the other man that he was sorry for the way things turned out; he wanted to tell him that he was sorry for dashing his dreams when he should have helped him fulfil them.

So many things that he wanted to say yet he could not get the words to form.

He doubted that Cloud had forgiven him, he honestly didn't know if the other man was capable of such a feat given their past but he wanted to try, if he made amends then maybe he could begin to heal.

"I'm sorry" he whispered.

Cloud looked at him for a moment as though he did not understand what he had said; his face registered a subtle hint of shock before it was once again as impassive as it had been previously.

"What for" he finally managed to ask, for some reason Sephiroth was sure he heard a hint of hope colour the blonde's voice.

"I never meant to disillusion you so callously, back then I guess I was rebelling against the mould I felt I had been forced into, I was brash and cocky and mean but that doesn't excuse the way I treated you"

He let his gaze drop to the ground as he contemplated his next words.

"I can't fully explain to you why I acted the way that I did, maybe one day I will but I can't now but I just wanted you to know that I didn't mean to be how I was with you, and I was humbled that somebody had chosen me to look up to even if I couldn't see it at the time"

He let the silence linger for a while then turned and made his way towards where Yuffie was standing, he'd only taken two steps when Clouds hushed response echoed out softly against the wind.

"Thank you"

* * *

It was so cold the coldness seeped through her thin garments and onto her skin like a grimy blanket that she couldn't cast off.

Even if her hands hadn't been hurtfully bound by her sides.

The smell of disinfectant invaded her nostrils and they flared, bile rose in her throat and she desperately wanted to be sick, it reminded her of being in a hospital and she had never really been much of a fan of them

The table she was strapped to had been cleaned and it was still damp, the dampness made her feel uncomfortable and the idea that she could ever be comfy on this monstrosity they called a table was laughable.

But she couldn't laugh she couldn't do anything, the only thing she wanted to do at the moment was to weep but she wouldn't give Shinra the satisfaction of seeing her do so.

She heard the door to the lab open and turned her head then wished she hadn't because Zack had just entered the room and he was alone.

"So Tifa it isn't every day that a man has an extremely attractive woman at his mercy I think I'm finding this very arousing" he stated although she could see that for her self.

Revulsion filled her and she turned her head.

He walked over and trailed his fingers over her body skimming her breast and heading down to rest on the apex of her thighs then stroking the satiny pantyhose oh display.

His eyes roamed over her filled with hunger and a savage desire.

"Don't touch me you louse" she said through clenched teeth, his touch felt like ice upon her and her skin felt like it wanted to crawl from her body, once again she resisted the urge to vomit.

"Or you'll do what honey" he said silkily trailing his fingers around the inside of her thigh.

"Fucking get off me you sick bastard," she screamed at him, her response only made him smile all the more, god she wanted to punch that stupid smile from his face and she struggled against the straps that held her.

"It's quite invigorating having you trussed up like this... you see I know that I can touch you and you can't stop me" to press home his point he started to unbutton the flimsy garment that Lucrecia had been forced to dress her in, buttons ran all the way down the front, his fingers moved slowly his breathing becoming more laboured as her body unfolded to his gaze.

Even the signs of her suffering could not diminish her peachy beauty.

Tifa pulled at the straps trying with all her strength to break her restraints, the result was a sharp stinging slap to her face.

She reeled but only for a second before struggling again.

"Keep still bitch" Zack breathed against her mouth and Tifa sank her teeth into his lower lip when his lips touched hers, she tasted blood and saw with satisfaction that it ran down his chin.

"You fucking whore" he screamed at her she spit in his face

"Whore means I'm anybodies Zack and I swear with my last breath I will never be yours" but instead of the anger and the retaliation she had expected Zack merely laughed at her remark.

"Look around you Tifa there are no cameras here, no Soldier members standing by.

You're all tied up and I could take you now" he climbed on top of her body ripping off her pantyhose to reveal her womanhood then her bra to bare her lush breasts to his gaze casting the unwanted satin away.

"What would you do Tifa?" he asked fiddling with his buckle, she closed her eyes preying that this was all just a nightmare, that she wasn't here, that she was asleep within the safe recesses of Sephiroth's arms.

"Who would know?" he whispered she heard the rasp of his zip and when she opened her eyes she saw that he had undone his pants.

Oh god she inwardly screamed, please save me she closed her eyes again just as he was about to thrust into her.

Beeeeeeeep the door to the lab sounded causing Zack to quickly clamber off her and refasten his pants and belt in lightning time, she had never been so glad to hear a sound in all her life, even if it did sound the arrival of someone else she loathed

Lucrecia entered the room followed closely by Hojo.

"Ah she is ready" I see Hojo said not commenting on Tifa's missing underwear.

"Place the needle in her arm" Hojo instructed and Tifa gasped as the pain entered her body, of all the pains she had endured this was by far the most horrifying and worst one.

"What are you doing" she stammered out.

"We have the ability to connect you to the person you love, now I will be able to see if I was indeed right" he mused.

Another pain spread throughout her like white fire searing her insides.

* * *

Sephiroth was listening intently to what Vincent was saying when he was hit by an enormous bolt of pain.

Oh no his mind screamed when realization of what was happening hit him, they were using what he'd feared them using the most, Hojo had to have figured out that he was in love with Tifa and he was now showing him exactly what he was putting her through.

He gasped and fell to his knees, the group seemed to rush to his side, even Barret who up until now had looked at him with distain suddenly seemed worried about his sudden collapse.

He pulled his body into the foetal position wanting desperately for the pain to go away, it was as though he could feel her through this sudden link and though he could sense her presence there the price for such a connection was too high.

"Oh god" he ground out as another wave him with all the force of a freight train, his muscles began to spasm under its onslaught.

"Sephiroth what the hell is wrong" Cloud asked reaching out to touch him, this only made it worse and he cried out in pain as soon as the other mans fingers touched his over sensitised flesh.

"They know, oh god they know" he managed to get out his breathing becoming more laborious as the flow of pain increased.

He hadn't dreamed that Hojo would find out so soon, and he certainly hadn't even thought that he was mad enough to use the machine he had created, as far as he was aware Hojo had not even tested it yet.

His heart ached at the thought of Tifa being the test subject.

He wasn't sure exactly how it worked, all he knew was that Hojo had found a way to connect you to your hearts desires, in other words to the person you loved above all else.

"Sephiroth, stay with us man" he heard Cloud shouting as though from very far away, his vision was beginning to blur and darken round the edges, he wondered if he was going to pass out.

It was like every ounce of pain he had ever endured was being forced upon him and his body was having trouble coping with it, he felt his very essence draining with each new wave that attacked him.

He wondered if Hojo was trying to kill him, or if this really was a punishment to him for defying him once again, his stamp of authority to show him just who it was in charge.

His eyes watered at the thought of Tifa in this much pain then suddenly it stopped. Why had it stopped so suddenly?

He couldn't feel her anymore, oh god his mind cried out what's happened to her.

He closed his eyes against a pain of another kind when he realised what could have caused the pain to stop as abruptly as it had, he pulled himself to his knees his eyes shining with unshed tears.

Cloud looked at him for a moment not understanding what was written on his face.

"Sephiroth, what's the matter? What happened" he finally asked, he tried to form the words to respond but he didn't want to say them, didn't want them to be true, Cloud was shaking him demanding an answer from him.

He wasn't aware that he had spoken until he saw Clouds eyes echo the sorrow he knew would be written within his own.

* * *

Back in the Shinra headquarters Hojo was horrified while Zack was just plain shocked.

Nobody saw the gleam in Lucrecia's eyes and the smile that hovered on her lips as though she was hiding something, or how her eyes swiftly looked up to register the time shown on the clock sitting on the opposite wall.

They were all to busy staring at Tifa's lifeless body for it was obvious to anyone that dared to look that the glazed eyes and unmoving chest signified that Tifa Lockheart was in fact dead.

_frozen inside without your touch without your love darling only you are the life among the dead _

all this time I can't believe I couldn't see  
kept in the dark but you were there in front of me  
I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems  
got to open my eyes to everything  
without a thought without a voice without a soul  
don't let me die here  
there must be something more  
bring me to life

_Lyrics taken from 'Bring me to life' by Evanescence_

* * *

Hope that you enjoyed that one and I'm sorry for the wait, I'll have more up soon but I'll just have to leave you with the cliff-hanger for now, thank you for the reviews.

Angel-Wings XxXxXxX


	9. Chapter 8

**Sleeping with her Enemy **

Her Deception

_And we'll be standing when you're gone_

_And we'll be heard again_

_We missed our chance but not for long_

_I know somehow we will hold on we'll be here_

_When you're gone_

* * *

"What do you mean you think she's dead?" Yuffie exclaimed while Cloud just stood there in numbed shock staring at Sephiroth as though he had suddenly developed an extra head.

"Hojo had been inventing something called the psychic posinatron, it's a machine that has the ability to connect you to the person closest to your heart...the person you love" Sephiroth noted the pain that darkened Clouds eyes but he had to finish what he'd been explaining.

"They must have connected Tifa to it and used her love to show me what they were doing to her, then there was nothing...I...I couldn't feel her anymore" Sephiroth lowered his head and noted the droplets that were falling to the floor.

Tears... he was crying!

But it wasn't just sadness he felt within him but an inhumanly fierce anger, first they had taken him from her now they had taken her from him to a place where he could no longer reach her.

It was because of his connection to her that they had made her suffer the way in which they had; they had taken someone precious to his heart and spat on her in a way which caused such a rage to simmer within him.

The Shinra had to take beautiful things and break them or corrupt them, and now they had done it with Tifa, she was beautiful and kind and caring and so strong it made him want to weep.

But they hadn't cared, they had used her for their own ends and he was not going to let them get away with it, if they thought they could cross him and hope to carry on as normal then they were all in for a rude awakening.

They were going to pay; he looked up hard determination set on every angle of his face, he would make every last one of them suffer.

It was as though a fiery grip had squeezed his heart spilling out all of his inner darkness and letting it flow throughout his body and seep into every fibre of his being.

Inside Sephiroth felt the threads of his humanity threatening to snap.

* * *

Lucrecia trailed her hand down Tifa's arm and inserted the needle just above her wrist.

Glancing at the clock on the wall she added up the minutes, the woman had been out for over an hour before the drug could be administered... ten minutes was all it would take.

They'd be here soon to take the body, Shinra didn't like evidence of their mistakes lying about and Tifa's still body was classed as evidence.

She had to work fast, she heard the footsteps and turned briefly smiling at the Turk who entered the room, it was her associate and accomplice Kyle and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that she could trust him.

"You got the story figured out" he stated

"Yes" she replied, she blew a stray strand of hair from her eyes and a cool smile spread across her lips, for once she felt as though she were doing the right thing, she owed this not only to Tifa but to Sephiroth and all the times she should have saved him but didn't.

"I want you to tell Hojo that I'm analysing her data and that I'll get rid of the body" Kyle stared at her and she looked into his emerald eyes that shined with compassion.

"You know the penalty if your caught" he sighed, he reached out a hand and trailed it down her cheek his pupils dilating when she leaned into the touch placing a butterfly kiss on the palm that had caressed her.

"I don't want to lose you" he said hoarsely, she smiled and this time it was all warmth.

"You'll never lose me Kyle... I'm a lot cleverer than Hojo and Zack give me credit for, I know what I'm doing and I swear to you that after this we'll get away, we'll resign and go and live somewhere peaceful away from all this brutality" Lucrecia smiled again.

"Now you have to go and find him…find my son Kyle and tell him of our plan" Kyle nodded and left the room.

She didn't know what she would have done if she had never had Kyle in her life, he had been her only source of light besides her son and had been to him she had cried to every night as she relived all the things that Sephiroth had endured.

At first he had been her friend and confidante and she had never really had one before, her past with Hojo had made her naturally weary of men especially men who looked like sin yet spoke with charm.

Kyle was most definitely different to the other lackeys that Hojo employed; he actually had a good heart and generally seemed interested in her problems and care about what she thought.

It hadn't taken long for them to become lovers, she trusted him more than she had trusted any man before him.

She was glad that he was willing to help her, all though she knew he was a good man she had had a doubt on whether he would cross Shinra, she was glad he had proved her wrong.

Now all that remained was for him to find Sephiroth and bring him to the building, wait for Tifa to wake up and then the rest would be up to her, she would be the one that got them out and undoubtedly she would be the one to pay the price…but it would be worth the pain she would endure to see her sons heart whole again.

Lucrecia turned and looked at the clock…eight minutes left.

* * *

Hurrying through the woods near Costa del Sol a figure dressed in black moved with effortless speed over the wide stretch of land, time was a serious factor and he was determined to make good speed.

Kyle looked neither to the left or the right, his senses we're on full alert.

Like Sephiroth he too had extra abilities bestowed upon him by Hojo, not that he would ever thank him for it, the man was a menace and he deserved to meet a sharp and untimely end.

He had been subjected to experiments similar to Sephiroth, only he had been with Shinra for a lot longer, granted he had not suffered as much but he had suffered for a far larger expanse of time.

Lucrecia had been the one to pull him from his bleakness, he remembered when he first seen her walk in the lab, her hair trailing down to her waist and her cute little glasses perched on the end of her nose.

She hadn't agreed with human experimentation, the price for her obvious displeasure against it showed in the bruised skin around her right eye.

Yet she had looked so beautiful standing there, her white lab coat had practically drowned his body but she had looked positively stunning, his gaze had been drawn to the creamy expanse of flesh shown at her neck.

He knew there and then that this woman was going to change her life…then he'd found out about her pregnancy.

She'd given birth to a baby boy and he was being used as a new type of experiment, it was why she couldn't leave, when he had become a Turk he had used his new role to find out as much as he could about this quiet gentle woman and had been shocked at everything he uncovered.

He'd understood then why she suffered day by day in a place that was a hell on earth, she was doing it to try and lessen the pain her son endured.

He stopped and sniffed the air.

He was close so very close, he could hear the voices just ahead of him, he picked up the scent of at least six people and one of them was Sephiroth.

Picking up speed he heading in the direction the scent was coming from, he had to get there and soon, time was most definitely not on their side and travelling with normal humans was going to affect their travel back.

He only hoped that he was able to get the job done.

* * *

"Calm down Sephiroth please" Aeris begged and received a look of pure fury from Sephiroth's searing gaze.

"She can't be helped now, so please don't do anything stupid, we just want the body so we can bury her" Yuffie butted in being the voice of reason even if it was trembling with her own unsuppressed emotions.

She turned to the men for support but for once they all seemed to be agreeing with Sephiroth.

"Those Shinra bastards need to pay" Barret condemned his eyes flashing with anger Vincent nodded although he hated not agreeing with Yuffie, Tifa had been a friend and well loved member of the group and now that group was calling for blood.

Cloud just looked thunderous but he was nothing compared to how Sephiroth looked his whole stance was consumed with anger he emanated rage and for the first time Yuffie was afraid of him.

They had just walked into a clearing when a young man dropped from the braches of one of the surrounding trees; he was dressed in the black outfit of the Turks.

Sephiroth drew his sward "you" he seethed "your one of the ones responsible" he went to lunge at the man who moved with lightning speed out of the way.

"Stop" he said, "I come bearing news of Tifa" Sephiroth went to lunge again "Lucrecia sent me" the man said and Sephiroth halted, his mother? Why had she sent this man to search for him?

"Who are you?" Sephiroth asked wearily the other man sighed.

"My name is Kyle Richards," he said "I am a member of the Turks and also Lucrecia's lover" he added his voice had taken on a tone of warmth when he had spoken her name.

Sephiroth gasped.

"You're the lover of my mother?" he said somewhat bemusedly Kyle nodded in answer his eyes seeming almost amused at the reaction from the silver haired man.

"We had both come up with a plan to help the young woman they had captured to escape" he looked at Sephiroth waiting for his words to penetrate through the other mans rage.

"We know what she means to you and we are going to try and help her to escape but we need you and your friends for a distraction to get her out."

Sephiroth shook his head, why was he tormenting him, Tifa was beyond his help now, didn't this stranger know that the love of his life was dead, he had felt her, he had felt the echo of loss when her feelings had been cut from him.

"Your wrong Kyle Tifa is dead."

"No Lucrecia injected her with a special drug it stops the heart nearly for a few hours making the beat impossible to detect" he stated softly, relief swept through Sephiroth as it did through the others.

"What do you want us to do?" he asked Kyle, he'd be willing to do anything to get her out of there, if she was truly alive then he didn't want to leave her there another minute longer than he had to.

"Huddle up and listen closely" Kyle said and they all bunched together to listen to his plan.

* * *

Lucrecia was a little anxious now it was five minutes past the allotted time and still Tifa had not awoken, she just hoped that she had not left it too late to administer the counter drug .

She preyed to god that this would work.

Just as anxiety was threatening to consume her, a shuffling noise alerted her and she looked down at Tifa, her fingers were twitching ever so slightly and then her eyes began to open ever so slowly squinting a little at the bright neon lights.

Coughing she tried to sit up but Lucrecia detained her, the action caused Tifa to frown but she stilled under the other woman's hands.

"Did it work?" she managed to croak out as Lucrecia started her examination, she smiled down at her, her eyes told the pale faced woman everything that she needed to know.

"They don't suspect a thing, as far as their concerned you are dead." Tifa's smile widened as she began thinking of freedom and Sephiroth.

Unbeknownst to them both they couldn't see that they were being watched, in her careful planning Lucrecia had forgotten to have Tifa taken to a room where there was no surveillance camera.

The small silver oblong moved in the corner of the room its red light blinked like an omen in the semi darkness and it was zooming in on Tifa and Lucrecia.

Its watcher grinned and soon his evil laughter ran out within the building.

Then one day we realized

That they couldn't hear our voice

And it's so hard to understand

When it's caught up in the noise

But the ones who fight and die

Are the truths inside the lie?

Now it's all built on our backs

And we struggle to survive

Lyrics taken from Goo Goo Dolls 'We'll be here (when your gone)

* * *

I am sorry that I kept you all waiting for the next chapter making you all think that Tifa was dead. I hope that you all like it and I promise I'll try and get more on the way to you soon. Enjoy.

Angel-Wings XxXxXxXxX


	10. Chapter 9

**Sleeping with her Enemy  
**

**What The Hell**

_To everything there is a purpose_

_To every blade of grass_

_And every leaf on every tree_

_Every living thing will surely_

_Come to pass_

_And what will be will be_

_That's when the hurting' time begins_

* * *

"What the hell do you mean you drugged her?" Sephiroth sated through icy clenched lips keeping his fury at bay by only a meagre thread, he felt that at any second he was going to explode.

Pushing his face up close to Kyle's he snarled at him white teeth showing against chapped lips.

Kyle didn't even flinch, his posture remained the same his eyes still held the same steel as he prepared to back Sephiroth down obviously he was not intimidated by the other man at all, in fact and to Sephiroth's annoyance he was sure he caught a flash of boredom in those jade green eyes.

"Listen to me and you best listen good, at the moment Lucrecia is working on Tifa, but what you must understand Sephiroth is that she is still in grave danger... they both are" he took a pause and made sure Sephiroth was really listening to him before he continued to speak.

"If Hojo or Zack were to find out what is going on Tifa and Lucrecia would both be in a lot of danger" Kyle saw rationality seep slowly into Sephiroth's eyes before he finally conceded and backed down.

Cloud had watched the way that Sephiroth had reacted to the news of Tifa and he was filled with mixed emotions and he was not too sure in which direction to follow.

He still did not forgive the older man for taking the heart he had tried for so long to capture.

However he could see from his actions that what Sephiroth said was true and he did indeed love Tifa and she him in return, although he had begun to think that the case previously it fully hit home in the face of how the silver haired man acted.

But where did that leave him?

What would he do with the broken heart that lay suspended and un-beating deep within his chest? He felt as though a part of him was missing and he knew with unfortunate certainty that it would never again be made whole.

Imaged began to bombard his mind, Tifa laughing and joking with the man stood before him now, her hair splayed out on a chest that belonged to someone else, wrapped up in limbs that were not his.

But it didn't matter any more, they had a mission to fulfil and he was going to make sure that he was there to get her out, he had promised he would always come for her when she needed him and it was a promise he did not intend to break.

They had taken the woman he cared so much for and beaten her, they had abused her and caused her a pain which had almost broken the mighty Sephiroth, and there was no way he would let them get away with such actions.

Soldier and more importantly Shinra were monsters, they took innocence and broke it, they too beauty and tainted it and they took gentle kindness and twisted it evilly.

It was those thoughts that started to make Cloud's unwavering control begin its first perilous crumbling.

* * *

Lucrecia eyed Tifa after she had finished her examination, the results were not good.

The shock that her system had received from Hojo's process had weakened her strength considerably, her heartbeat was weak also and it gave Lucrecia cause for concern.

But she knew that Tifa was a fighter and that she would not give up so easily now that she knew there was a way out and a way to be reunited with her love, if she cared for her son as much as she knew her son cared for her then Lucrecia knew their relationship would last a lifetime and beyond.

She smiled maybe in this world there was happy endings.

Tifa winced as she moved slowly bringing herself up onto her elbows, her body felt as though it were constantly being jarred with hot pokers but she did her best to not let the other woman see just how much pain she really was in.

Her mind felt like it was on fire and the rest of her didn't feel much better.

"So how am I?" she asked Lucrecia, she noted that the other woman's colour had paled quite considerably and she was unsure as to whether it was due to the situation they now faced or the outcome of the tests she had just run.

"Fine" came the reply and Tifa knew she was lying because she refused to meet her eyes.

"Lucrecia" she said softly "look at me" cool eyes raised and met hers she saw the sorrow in the other woman's eyes and once again she was struck by how gentle this woman was, the kindness she had showed her.

"I'm not alright am I?" she said and Lucrecia shook her head finally admitting what Tifa knew inwardly.

"You're very weak Tifa you're body and you're system has been through so much, I'm afraid for you" Tifa smiled at the considerate words.

"I'll be fine Lucrecia trust me I've been through worse torture than this" and it was the truth for she had been living in the tortures of hell since Sephiroth had left her and was plunged even further in when she realised what must have happened, while he was imprisoned within these walls.

It made her realise that she had to get out, she had to tell him that she loved him.

* * *

Hojo looked over his notes, he couldn't understand what had gone wrong, he'd done everything right and yet it had gone so disastrously wrong and he hadn't predicted it at all.

He pictured her still body on the table and shuddered, those glassy eyes he knew would haunt him till the end of his days.

Sighing he pulled the lose strands of his hair behind his ears.

Taking a sip of his coffee he gasped when he was suddenly overcome with the most intense pain.

His eyes watered and his cup clattered to the floor smashing loudly sending a pool of hot dark liquid over the floor, he heard the slight drip of something thick and turning his gaze to the floor her made out the steady drip of what looked like blood mingle with the black coffee.

He looked down at his chest and saw the huge sward tip protruding from the front of his body.

His eyes looked up, he could just make out the reflection of someone within the computers monitor and his gaze clashed with glowing orbs and he gasped in shock and recognition.

"You" he managed to croak out before darkness blocked out his last view of the world.

Placing his foot on the back of the chair he pulled on the blade feeling satisfaction rip through him as it squelched sickeningly, he held it up in the dim light the gooey liquid dripping from its pointed end.

Wiping the blade on Hojo's white lab coat Zack admired his handiwork, his face had the look of someone who hardly looked human, his eyes were bloodshot and a peculiar smile touched his lips.

"I never really liked you" he said matter of factly to Hojo's still body, his smile broke out into a grin as he exited the room, he had only one destination in mind and he couldn't wait to reach it.

The sound of his laughter could be heard as it reverberated through the building as he made his way to the secondary med lab.

* * *

"We're taking a train to Shinra?" Yuffie said bewildered as they waited at the station.

Kyle laughed lightly, he knew that it would take time to reach the Shinra headquarters if they went on foot, with the passes he had acquired from the building he would be able to get them literally at Shinra's front door

"How else did you think we was going to get there little one" he teased his voice velvety making her blush.

Vincent felt jealousy rip through him, god that guy was smarmy he was just one of those people who oozed charisma and Vincent felt rage boil within him, but he instantly quelled it when Yuffie blew him a kiss.

She was safe.

He was never really big on the social front, like Sephiroth and Kyle he too had had enhancements from Shinra only whereas they had not altered the appearance of the two men who accompanied their groups Vincent himself could make no such boast.

He looked down at his clawed hand and sighed.

They had taken his beauty from him, he was not a vain man but he had kept a picture of how he had looked originally, his body had been flawless and almost perfect……he didn't have that any more.

Yuffie gave that back to him, she didn't look at him like he was a monster, she looked at him as though he was someone to be desired and a part of him could not understand it.

But he was glad that he had her in his life, he may not be the most forward or vocal of people but she knew that he loved her and that he loved her fiercely.

It was why he could relate to the silent ex-general, he knew that Sephiroth felt the same for Tifa as he himself felt for Yuffie, he also knew that the other man wondered just what it was that his lover saw him in much the same way that he did.

It was like they were kindred, although he would never admit this out loud, he doubted that Sephiroth would appreciate the sentiment being that it would embarrass him plus he doubted he would have been able to say such a thing anyway.

Turning his attention to Sephiroth he made his way over seating himself on the ground next to him.

"We'll get her out," he said slowly, Sephiroth merely nodded a look of pain and anguish etched out on his face but there was also a warmth in there directed at the Vincent for his kindness.

Vincent knew he would never see a more tortured soul than this and as the sound of the train could be heard in the distance Vincent only preyed that they were not too late to heal it.

_And all the things you never said_

_Or didn't have the strength to say_

_And everything you ever did_

_That time won't ever wash away_

_Fears that you've been living with_

_Come running' down your face_

_Running down your face_

_When the hurting' time begins_

_Taken from Annie Lennox's 'The hurting time'_

* * *

I'm really sorry for the wait guys I've been so busy with college (I known I know its no excuse sobs) Anyway hope that you all like it and I'll have another one up soon, its nearly ended sniff, sniff please review or flame whatever let me know if you liked it.

Angel-Wings XxXxXxX


	11. Chapter 10

**Sleeping With Her Enemy **

Is This The End?

Quick Note I am so sorry to keep you all waiting for so long but you cannot imagine the writers block I've been suffering with this story. But I finally got some inspiration so here is the probably long awaited update after a while of me slacking and I hope that none of you are disappointed.

_Everything's so blurry_

_and everyone's so fake_

_and everybody's empty_

_and everything is so messed up_

_pre-occupied without you_

_I cannot live at all_

_My whole world surrounds you_

_I stumble then I crawl_

* * *

Lucrecia frowned slightly at Tifa's pale pallor she really was worried about the younger girl.

Images of Tifa collapsing filled her mind and she shuddered, just because she was a scientist and a doctor did not mean that she was prepared for ill- fated things for she was not.

"I just need to go and get something from the medical facility stock room" she told Tifa who was retying the laces of her boots; she nodded and carried on with her task.

Exiting the room she made her way to the elevator stepping inside and punching the floor she needed to go to, she sighed as it started it's descend only to catch her breath when it jerked to a stop and was still, in between floor 65 and 64.

Someone had cut the power.

The medical lab was plunged into dimness and the emergency lights started to generate but they were dull giving the room an even gloomier quality it made her feel as though someone had walked across her grave.

Tifa frowned.

It was most definitely strange she thought to herself and took a tentative step towards the closed door, before she could reach it; it swung open revealing the large figure of a man standing in the doorway.

Mako eyes glowed in the dark at her and for a moment she felt elation thinking that at last Cloud had come to rescue her, he had kept his promise just like she had thought he would.

"Cloud?" she asked hesitantly

"You should learn by now Tifa that not everyone with eyes that glow is your friend" the now familiar voice scorned as the dark figure stepped into the half-light.

Tifa gasped and backed away, her knees pumped into the bed as she eyed him wearily, for some reason she didn't feel as though she had any more fight left in her, it was a feeling she did not care for.

"Zack" she whispered hating the fear that had been injected into her voice by her rapidly beating heart.

He laughed a vicious sound that had her shivering despite the warmth of the room; he took another step towards her then another herding her to where it was he wanted her to be.

Backed against the bed Tifa had nowhere left to go, realisation hit her like a lightning bolt, this was what he'd planned that she would back away too frightened to fight him.

And she'd fallen for it; she looked helplessly at the man taking his time to get to her a knowing smile on his lips, she could see the triumphant light gleam within his eyes and felt her heartbeat clench painfully.

He had won for he had Tifa trapped, like the little rabbit he'd always perceived her to be.

* * *

Sephiroth glanced at the building with ice in his eyes; the urge to spit on the pavement just to show some slight resistance to the Shinra overwhelmed him, he even felt his body make a move to actually do it.

But he quickly recovered remembering why he was here, turning he looked at Cloud and Kyle.

They would take the more direct route through the main entrance leaving Vincent and Yuffie to secure the front and Red, Barret and Aeris to sneak in through the side entrance.

His eyes narrowed on the Soldiers he could see marching in the lobby, it would give him great satisfaction to dig his sward into their treacherous flesh, his whole being cried out for vengeance and he would not be denied.

He licked his lips in anticipation, shivering as excitement tingled down his spine.

"Don't hold back, and take no prisoners" his voice sounded so cold and resolute but he didn't care, when it came to the scum within this monstrosity of a building he found he didn't care.

He'd waited a long time for his retribution against the Shinra and he wanted to see them pay, and pay they would.

In blood

Giving the signal the parties split, each heading in their designated areas, he looked at Cloud and Kyle who nodded their eyes narrowing hands gripping their weapons tight then they charged towards the lobby.

They were inside for a full minute, slashing whoever crossed their path, then the alarms hit.

Soldiers filed down the stairs and out of the elevators, each one receiving a nasty blow from the trio who awaited them, he had said take no prisoners and they were fully acting by those words.

Sephiroth fought like a man possessed, he didn't care if he seemed crazed he'd fight anyone anything if it meant he could see Tifa's smiling face again, could touch her once again.

He'd lost her once he would not do so again.

* * *

The sound of the alarms startled Zack and gave Tifa some time to run past him, she headed for the door but her weary legs were not fast enough, she knew her false death had depleted her of her strength.

So Zack caught up with her easily, yanking her back into the room by her hair causing a startled cry of pain to escape past her lips.

"I don't remember telling you that you could leave," he rasped against her neck before running his tongue over it, she winced at the contact hating the clamminess it left in its wake.

He bit into the soft flesh till it bled making her cry out once again in pain.

"Please" she begged breathlessly just wanting to get away, needed to rid herself of the infestation of his touch, she didn't care that she was begging him now, she knew that someone had come for her, she could feel it in her bones…she just needed more time.

"Let me go Zack" she said trying her best to make her voice sound brave when she was so obviously in the clutches of fear, judging from the tightening of his grip it was obvious that he did not buy the act.

Zack laughed again that irritating sound that made her skin crawl and she would have loved to slap his face.

He lowered his hand to her thigh and trailed it upwards and she desperately tried to fight him, he merely laughed again and flung her to the bed, it was as though her struggles only served to intoxicate him more.

She landed heavily and was slightly winded her head had connected with the wall and she saw starts sparkle as her vision blurred, her head began to feel as though it was detached from her body and she wanted to just collapse in a heap.

I can't pass out she said to herself I can't let him have me.

But before she could even attempt to get up he was there cuffing her wrists to the head of the bed, his grip was fierce and painful and she felt fear the likes of which she had never felt before.

He sneered down at her, and her eyes filled with panic.

"I remember when I first met you" Zack said lightly as he began to undo her shirt, he took his time was the buttons as though savouring every second of her body unfolding slowly beneath him.

"You were so young yet so delicious; I badly wanted to touch you. I remember when you kissed me and I thought that you liked me, but no you said you didn't feel anything"

"I still don't" she said trying to show some bravado she kicked her legs connected with his lower back making him wince, she continued to thrash until he had restrained her legs tying them so that they were apart.

He smiled down at her as though they were sharing some joke that he thought was funny he even began to laugh, quite hysterically as though he had never heard anything so humorous in his life.

Tifa failed to see the humour.

He leaned in closer; she could smell the putrid stench of alcohol on his breath and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

The alarms grew to a fevered pitch and he sighed.

"Looks like I'll have to take you someplace more private, you must have known this was bound to happen, grown men are weak of the flesh Tifa or did your mother never tell you that" he said taking a small syringe needle out of his pocket.

There was pink substance in it, which he injected into her arm; she cried out before unconsciousness over took her.

* * *

He smiled in his sinister way, turning his attention to her legs and wrists he cuffed them again before he gathered her up into his arms.

He made his way to the stairs intent on going to the helipad on the roof when a cold voice stopped him from behind, he was surprised to hear it and was annoyed at the momentary feeling of panic the voice caused, but he composed himself well.

"Long time no see Zack" it spat and Zack grinned widely.

"Why Sephiroth I'm so flattered you remembered my name" he taunted, and Sephiroth scowled at him.

"I've come for Tifa," he said motioning towards the pale girl in Zack's arms and Zack laughed at him, if he thought he was in a position to take his prize from him then he was very much mistaken.

"You think that I will give her up to you, then you are a bigger fool than I imagined" he shifted a hand and withdrew his sward, he saw apprehension enter those aqua eyes and smiled.

"If I cannot have her then I'll damn well make sure nobody else can" he brought the blade to Tifa's neck and continued to look Sephiroth in the eye.

"Make a choice Sephiroth," he said as Tifa began to rouse, her eyes blinking rapidly.

She turned her head her gaze resting on Sephiroth, tears formed in her eyes and she drowned in his gaze, for so many years she had imagined him, wanted him so badly that it hurt, and there he was stood before her more handsome that he had ever been before.

"Sephiroth" she choked out and he felt his heart clench at the sound, but before he could utter a word she was squirming against Zack the only thought on her mind of touching Sephiroth again.

Zack's sward sliced into her skin and she cried out in shock, Zack looked down in horror before dropping her body to the ground.

Sephiroth rushed to Tifa's side and Zack bolted out to the stairwell, his eyes clouded with pain as blood seeped from the wound at Tifa's neck, he looked for something, anything that could add pressure to the wound.

It was not large enough to kill her quickly; he looked up as Kyle came rushing over Cloud hot on his heels, they both fell to the ground next to them

"We need Lucrecia" Kyle said checking Tifa's pulse, obviously he hadn't liked what he had felt there for his voice took on a hint of desperation as he uttered his next words.

"There's not much time. Cloud come with me help me find her" Cloud nodded and the pair hurried off in search of the doctor.

Sephiroth gazed a Tifa he couldn't bear the thought of her dying, he'd already felt it once and he couldn't bear the thought of watching it now, he didn't think he could take it.

It was then he knew what he had to do; it just came so easily to his mind.

He'd give up his life in exchange for hers; she had so much to give... so much to live for, he knew how to do it, knew that his life was nothing in comparison to hers

His mind made up he scooped the fallen woman into his arms snuggling her cooling body next to his warm frame.

He headed towards the medical room his mind made up his resolve set, he only hoped that in time she would forgive him, that she would find someone to lessen the pain he was sure she would feel at first.

There was just no other choice.

_Everyone is changing_

_there's no one left that's real_

_to make up your own ending_

_and let me know just how you feel_

_cause I am lost without you_

_I cannot live at all_

_my whole world surrounds you_

_I stumble then I crawl_

_Taken from Puddle of Mud's 'Blurry'_

* * *

Hope that you all liked that nearly finished now, thank you for all your reviews and I hope that you like this chapter.

Angel - Wings XxXxXxXxX


	12. Chapter 11

**Sleeping With Her Enemy **

The Ultimate Sacrifice

_Down to the earth I fell _

_With dripping wings_

_Heavy things won't fly _

_And the sky might catch on fire _

_And burn the axis of the world _

_That's why I prefer a sunless sky _

_To the glittering and stinging in my eyes_

* * *

Tifa felt weakness clutch at her and smiled lightly, if the situation had allowed she imagined that she would have laughed at the outcome, fate it seemed was not without a sense of irony.

She had found her love at last only to have him taken away from her and she would be the one that took him.

She knew what it was that he planned to do, he was going to give her his life force, and he was going to sacrifice his life for hers, she wondered how anybody could have said he was selfish when she knew him to be so selfless, he had never lived a full life and now if he had his way he never would.

But she wasn't about to let that happen.

"Sephiroth" she whispered into the silver strands of his hair, it smelt of forests and the lightest of rains not an unpleasant smell.

He looked down at her his glowing eyes filled with tenderness; she felt the tears swell within her own gaze and reached up one pale hand to caress his cheek, wanting to feel its silky strength beneath her fingers one last time.

She had enough strength left she knew she could pull it off, but she also knew that he would fight; she had never doubted his love for her, like hers for him it was all consuming.

And for her love she was willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice.

Smiling up into his concerned face she fell in love with him all over again, it was not hard to see how she had fallen with him in the first place not when he was looking at her in the way that he was.

Even if he had meant to be her enemy, a Soldier crafted by Shinra that risked everything for her...for them!

She knew that she couldn't have stopped herself loving him if it meant her own damnation, she'd rather be damned to a lifetime of loving him without him near, than damned to have never known what it was like to feel his touch, a life where she knew that she was the one that had taken his life away from the world that could offer him so much.

She'd had her taste of heaven, now it was time he was allowed his.

"I love you" she said her voice husky with emotion; it was her first declaration of such to him, her first and her last!

She saw his eyes mist over and he choked back a sob, pulling her closer.

"I love you too," he said and she smiled, she had never doubted it, it had been her only form of comfort while he had been away, she had always believed in the fact that he loved her, but the opportunity for him to tell her had never been available.

She looked him in the eye "I'm sorry" she said lightly causing him to frown, and he felt a piercing pain in his arm.

She had given him the knock out medicine that Zack had injected her with earlier.

Sephiroth looked at her, his eyes wide as though she had betrayed him, in his eyes it probably was a betrayal, but she couldn't let him give up his life for her, not when she knew what he had been through to protect her.

She kissed him and he sank into that kiss with all the desperation of a man who was drowning and she was his only way to life.

In a way she was.

She kissed him with all the passion she had been denied over the years, kissed him with all the longing she had endured, but most of all she kissed him with the love she had always felt knowing that this would be the last time she could ever do so.

Sephiroth started to feel light headed and as his vision blurred he was vaguely aware of the sensation of falling.

Then nothing

She looked down at his still body the drug would only work for a few minutes, more than enough time to shut herself in the laboratory.

The glass was reinforced made so that Sephiroth wouldn't have been able to break it during his captivity and it had been put to the test and passed with flying colours.

She knew that once locked from the inside only Shinra personnel would be able to open the door, but when they came it would be too late to help her when they finally managed to open it.

She would be dead.

Secure in the room, Tifa looked at Sephiroth as his body began to stir, this would be her last vision before she slept for eternity, but to her it didn't matter she had seen him again.

She was still in awe of his beauty, the mane of silken hair she had loved to feel threaded through her fingers.

The plush lips of the mouth she had loved to trace, the glowing eyes green with envy that had seen through to her very soul, a body so sinewy in muscle and strength that she knew even Adonis would envy it.

It was better this way she assured herself as he sat up and blinked rapidly looking round turning to fix anguished eyes on her delicate frame slumped up against the glass of the door.

She was aware of him calling out her name, she pressed her hand to the glass his own pressed on the other side as through he could pull her through to him.

She mouthed the words I love you! To him saw him shake his head in denial as the realisation of what she was going to do hit him, he let the tears fall unashamedly down his cheek.

She saw out of the corner of her eye Cloud and another man running in her direction Lucrecia right behind them, she was fumbling with her pocket for the card that would open the door.

But all soon blurred and she pitched into eternal blackness, a smile on her full lips.

And all was still.

* * *

The helplessness that Sephiroth felt was unbearable, he put all of his strength into pounding at the unmoveable unbreakable glass door.

Anguished cries slipped from kiss-scorned lips as his love sank to the cool floor, her hand slipping from the glass door sliding slowly down to rest at her side.

He sank down further on his knees his heart shattering as the steady rise and fall of her chest rose and fell getting slower with every second that passed her breathing slowing down rapidly.

"Tifa please don't leave me' he whispered his voice thick with sorrow.

He'd fought through everything, risked everything and defied everything just so that he could see her again, but to have her taken away from him when it seemed that he was so close to having her warmth melt the ice in his heart.

Cruelty did not describe how he felt for mere words could not give it adequacy.

He heard the distant running of feet, turned and seen the blurry images of Lucrecia, Kyle and Cloud race towards him.

But it was too late all was too late.

"Forgive me" he said to his fallen angel, her look of love still etched on the now paled contours of her beautiful face.

The door finally opened and he scrambled towards her, her skin was so cold, he longed to warm it but he knew without a shadow of a doubt such a feat would never be accomplished.

Why had she given her life for him, he was a monster, he didn't deserve that kind of devotion especially from someone as beautiful as Tifa, someone who had had so much to live for.

Her eyes stared at him glassily, but he could not find the fire that usually simmered within her gaze, it had been extinguished and he had no idea who to re-ignite it.

With trembling hands he let his hands caress her face, his fingers gently closed her lids hiding her beautiful orbs from him forever yet he still held her body cuddled in his embrace, even when hands tried to pull him to his feet he just couldn't let her go.

Her face would forever haunt his dreams along with the sacrifice she had made.

Gleaming in the dark sea

I'm as light as air

Floating there breathlessly

When the dream dissolves

I open up my eyes

I realize that

Everything is shoreless sea

A weightlessness is passing over me

Lyrics taken from Nina Gordon's 'Tonight and the rest of my life'

* * *

Sorry if I kept you all waiting, well I have one more chapter to go and then this story is finished, should have it up at the beginning of next week if not at the end of this one. Well hope you enjoyed and please review, and don't all be saying of god you killed her etc because you haven't read the final chapter yet wink, wink

Angel - Wings XxXxXxXxX


	13. Chapter 12

**Sleeping With Her Enemy **

The End Or A New Beginning

_Goodbye my lover_

_Goodbye my friend_

_You have been the one_

_You have been the one for me_

* * *

Near the shores of Costa del Sol one lone figure stood, upon the hill that rose just before the sea, he remained silent and still his face seemed almost vacant and seemingly far away.

His eyes were glazed over, his silver hair catching in the wind and tangling lightly as it flew lazily through the air.

He felt the warm rays of the sun beat down upon his weary body and yet he remained oblivious to it all, he could only feel the numbness that had suffused his being and the icy coldness that had settled upon his heart.

It no longer beat, it felt hollow and heavy within his chest, so great was his sorrow.

It was like stone, like the bleak stone that stood before him, which was untouched amongst the many that had rotted over time.

Would he rot over time? Left to a world where everybody loathed him his soul slowly draining till all that was left was a shell of something that could have once been great?

Life seemed to loom in front of him and all he felt was the great joy he would feel when it was finally over, when he could lay down in the sweet earth and finally be no more.

No.

The one word pierced through his mind, she would not have wanted that for him, a small smile touched his lips as he thought of her but even the smile was tinged with sadness.

She wanted him to live.

The loss though was too much to bear, yet through his numbness the tears would not fall...his eyes remaining strangely dry to the point where they almost burnt him.

A small scuffling noise alerted him and he turned to watch Yuffie amble down the grassy knoll towards where he stood.

Her eyes were puffy and red from the numerous tears she had spilt; he wished so hard that he would spill them freely with her...he needed the grief for something to embrace to help him heal before the sorrow succeeded in taking over him.

She stopped about a metre behind him, he sensed she wanted to offer him some form of friendly contact but would more than likely be too afraid of what his reaction would be, they had all given him a wide birth since it had happened.

Deciding that an action might sever his remaining thread on humanity she settled on words instead.

"How are you?" she said lightly taking the few extra paces it took to reach his side, she didn't touch him and he was oddly grateful for that, he didn't think he could stand the contact at the moment.

"Coping" he said his eyes downcast on the words etched in stone, his eyes almost caressed the words as he read them over and over again still unable to make them sink in with their truth.

They would forever remain engraved in his memory and in his heart.

A Woman who never gave up, who thought of others before herself, in loving Memory of Tifa Lockheart, may you rest in peace.

"Cloud and Barret? How are they doing?" Sephiroth asked his eyes still clinging to the name that he would never again get to speak with such endearment.

"The same" she replied and turned to see Aeris, Red XIII and Vincent heading towards them each one wearing an expression as gaunt as her own, each showing their sorrow in their own way in regards to the loss of not only their comrade but their friend.

But none could match to the heart wrenching expression from the man who had loved her most.

Yuffie could see every line of sorrow etched out upon his pale features, he seemed torn as though he was holding onto his hope, but he knew the truth even if his heart would not accept what his brain already knew.

Tifa Lockheart was dead.

The three stopped and allowed Sephiroth his space, understanding that he needed to grieve, he hadn't shed any tears as of yet and each one was waiting for the time when the damn would finally break.

Sephiroth reached out a hand and traced her name in gold, he took a shuddery breath and his first tear fell.

Sinking to his knees in the hard dirt he touched the soil, caressed it as though it was her body and felt the emotion he had longed to set him free burst from deep within his soul.

His high-pitched sobs echoed through the morning air as he dug frantically at her grave, he wanted badly to dig up her battered body and breath his own sweet life into her still body if only to see her smile at him again.

He felt a pair of hands reach out and pull him back; he fought violently then finally looked up to see the familiar blonde hair and glowing eyes of Cloud and slumped even further down.

"I failed her" he sobbed thinking how he could have done more, that there could have been a way to get to her only he had been too stupid to notice.

Cloud shook his head, putting aside his grief to help the man who had sacrificed everything for Tifa's happiness only to lose her when at last he thought he'd found her again.

"You could never," Cloud said pulling the older man to his feet and lifting his chin so that he could look him in the eye.

"She loved you, not a day went by that you weren't in her thoughts or on her mind in some way, you were everything to her Sephiroth, she wanted to give you a chance of life so you could have everything that Shinra denied you whilst you lived in their hell" he said seeing rationality seep into Sephiroth's watery gaze.

Sephiroth wanted to say that now it felt like he was living in purgatory but he appreciated what Cloud was trying to accomplish.

Reaching out for the second time her traced Tifa's name lightly "I love you" he whispered.

Then turning he walked away...away from Cloud and his group, away from her grave and away from his only form of healing.

* * *

He walked for hours not caring where he was going or where he would end up; he just wandered aimlessly and let his desolation consume him he had nothing left anymore; everything he had ever wanted or loved had been taken from him.

Soon he felt another more potent emotion filter into his soul, anger, fierce consuming anger.

"You'll pay Zack" he muttered and swore on Tifa's grave that he would find the other man and relish greatly in making his suffer, he would regret the day he had taken Tifa on what would be her death sentence.

He noted that his surroundings had changed without him even being aware of it, he also noted that he did not recognise the silent village in which he now stood.

Heading to the centre he looked passively over his surroundings, it was quiet eerily so and there was no sign of life.

He felt a chill creep up his spine and shuddered, he'd always hated places which relished in silence, he had suffered through it his whole life, he preferred the noisy towns he frequented in his youth, and silence reminded him of the cell in which he had mostly lived.

He wandered over to a nearby bench and sank gratefully onto it, he body was weary and his eyes wanted badly to close, he couldn't remember when he had rested last, when he had slept without the plaguing nightmares that taunted him.

But he fought against the impulse of sleep, knowing to well that her face would be there to haunt him when he slept, even if exhaustion took him he knew that she would be there waiting for him the moment he closed his eyes.

He was so deep in thought that when a voice called out to him it took a while for it to register.

"Sephiroth"

Turning he saw a hooded figure behind him, the only indication of gender was the voice that floated from within the recess of the deep hood that covered the whole of her face.

"Do I know you?" he questioned and she held out two objects to him, he instantly recognised them as materia, one a large materia and the other possibly a master.

He frowned down at the offered items and felt her take his hand and place them within his grasp closing his fingers over them slowly as though they were the most precious things in the world.

He felt a jolt race through him at her touch.

"What are these for?" he asked as he stared down at them, he had no use for materia, not now, he wasn't in need of it especially for what he had in mind.

"You will know when the time is right" the voice said lightly then pointed to the village entrance.

"Now you must go" it said and against his will Sephiroth found his feet walking towards the exit, he willed himself to stop but found he could not.

"But how will I..." he started to ask when he regained his functions, he turned to assess the fig his voice trailed off and his eyes widened the hooded woman had gone as if vanished.

Turning he walked out of the village his mind a whirl of confused and bemused thoughts.

Back in the Village of the Dead as it was so rightly named, a slender woman stood in solitary silence and let her eyes rest on Sephiroth's departing back.

Her heart filled with longing and her dark eyes glazed with tears.

She pulled the hood back from her head and let her raven hair fly wildly in the wind, in tangled out behind her in a way the silver haired man had always found endearing.

She reached her left hand up to pull lovingly at the locket that hung suspended round her neck.

A ring twinkled in the dusky light and she smiled as Sephiroth was lost to her view, it was a smile mixed with happiness and sorrow.

"Find your answer soon my love" she whispered her voice caressed by the wind, she knew that the words would not carry to him but she hoped he heard it within his heart.

"And bring me back to you"

And with her final words to her lover, Tifa Lockheart closed her eyes and disappeared as the sun sunk below the horizon and the moon took its regal place amongst the stars in the sky.

The end?

And I still hold your hand in mine

In mine when I'm asleep

And I will bare my soul in time,

When I'm kneeling at your feet

Goodbye my lover

Goodbye my friend

You have been the one

You have been the one for me

Lyrics taken from James Blunt's 'Goodbye my lover'

* * *

Authors Notes

TA DA finished it at long last, I would like to thank everyone who ever reviewed my fic, couldn't have done it without you. Just so you're all clear there will be a sequel to this fic (what you didn't think I was going to leave it like this did you?) called 'The Resurrection Of Fire' which I am currently in the process of writing (yay) if you want a Sequel then please let me know in your review.

I want to say a big thanks to 'd u s t y. w i n g s' for always taking the time to read my fic and telling me it was under reviewed (glad you stuck with me on it though) and anybody reading you should check out her stories they are well worth the read.

So once again thanks a lot especially to all of you who have been with me till the end, I really appreciate your encouragement and kind words in your reviews and I hope I can live up to standards in the sequel, take care and thanks again!

Angel - Wings XxXxXxX


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